U.S. stock markets dropped on Thursday as fears over how a Democrat-controlled Congress will change the country's business climate outweighed very positive trade deficit news. Investors are starting to become concerned about hostility among the newly empowered Democrats toward several business interests, including pharmaceuticals and government contractors, whose stocks all took hits. At the same time, U.S. consumer confidence weakened slightly in early November, and the Commerce Department reported that America's trade deficit showed sharp improvement in September. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 73.24 points, or 0.60 percent, to end at 12,103.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 7.34 points, or 0.53 percent, to finish at 1,378.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 8.93 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 2,376.01. Meanwhile, the cost of a barrel of light sweet crude oil rose $1.33, more than 2 percent, to close at $51.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The New York Stock Exchange fell 43.82 to close at 8,813.73. The American Stock Exchange gained 5.68 points to finish at 1,999.36 and the Russell 2000 Index ended down 7.78 points, finishing at 762.06.
