The close: Losing streak continues

Stocks extended their losing streak on Wednesday as investors continued to lose optimism for the U.S. economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,048.94, down 21.87 points or 0.2 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1279.56, down 5.38 points or 0.4 per cent - its sixth straight down day. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 13,183.79, down 99.13 points or 0.8 per cent - stretching its consecutive down-days to seven.

While the overall declines during this streak have been relatively mild, the steady slide continues to hit economically sensitive stocks the hardest. Caterpillar Inc. fell 1.8 per cent even as the heavy equipment company affirmed its 2011 outlook and boosted its quarterly dividend by 1.8 per cent.

Target Corp. fell 0.4 per cent after the retailer raised its quarterly dividend by 25 per cent. In other moves, Alcoa Inc. fell 1.8 per cent, Bank of America Corp. fell 1 per cent and Cisco Systems Inc. fell 1.4 per cent.

Intel Corp. fell 1 per cent after Gartner cut its PC sales growth outlook for 2011. Microsoft Corp. fell 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, credit card companies fell after the U.S. Senate rejected a bid to delay the upcoming mandated cuts in card transaction fees. Visa Inc. fell 3.9 per cent and MasterCard Inc. fell 1.5 per cent.

Some energy stocks moved against the downward slope of the rest of the market, after the OPEC oil cartel failed to lift production quotas. Crude oil rose to $101.77 (U.S.) a barrel, up $2.68. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 1 per cent, Talisman Energy Inc. rose 0.4 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 1.2 per cent.

As well, Sino-Forest Corp. jumped 22.7 per cent after the embattled company asked regulators to investigate trading of the company's shares by Muddy Waters, the firm that issued a negative report on the company and skewered the shares late last week.