Tag Archives: Wall Street

Wall Street Begins Year Sharply Lower After China Selloff

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks began 2016 sharply lower on Monday, with the Dow marking its worst start to a year since 2008, after weak Chinese economic data fanned fears of a global slowdown.

Indexes partly recovered late in the session, following a turnaround in oil prices that caused energy shares to cut losses. At its low for the day, the Dow was down 467 points and was headed for its worst first-day percentage drop since 1932.

Surveys showed factory activity in the world’s second-largest economy shrank sharply in December, sparking a 7-percent slide in Chinese shares that triggered a trading halt. Adding to investors’ worries, China’s central bank fixed the yuan at a 4-1/2 year low, further weakening it against the dollar.

U.S. data sparked further concern as factory activity weakened unexpectedly in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

“There was the turmoil overnight overseas that kind of set the tone … (but) all of the negatives out there have been out there for a while,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

“The fact that we closed down on the year, the Fed tightened, it crystallized in investors’ minds that we’re not in the environment we were in throughout most of the recovery.”

The selloff was widespread but not as deep as the slide caused by worries of a China-led global slowdown in August, when the Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points at one point.

Nasdaq led the day’s decline and Amazon <AMZN.O>, down 5.8 percent at $636.99, weighed the most on the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq, while the Nasdaq Biotech Index <NBI> dropped 3.2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <DJI> closed down 276.09 points, or 1.58 percent, to 17,148.94, the S&amp;P 500 <SPX> lost 31.28 points, or 1.53 percent, to 2,012.66 and the Nasdaq Composite <IXIC> dropped 104.32 points, or 2.08 percent, to 4,903.09.

Both the S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq had their worst starts to a year since 2001.

All 10 S&P sectors ended lower, but the energy index <SPNY> was down the least, with a loss of just 0.2 percent.

Crude oil ended a volatile session down slightly following concern about Middle East tensions, but Brent turned higher late.

Tesla <TSLA.O> fell 6.9 percent to $223.41. The electric car maker delivered 17,400 vehicles in the fourth quarter, just above the low end of its guidance.

About 8.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 7.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,127 to 977, for a 2.18-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,202 issues fell and 652 advanced for a 3.38-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 113 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Nick Zieminski)

Reuters: Wall St. dips as jobs data boosts odds of December rate hike

Photo courtesy of Reuters/Brendan McDermid

By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes were little changed in choppy morning trading on Friday after a stronger-than-anticipated jobs report hardened the chance that the Federal Reserve would finally raise interest rates in December.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the interest-rate sensitive utilities sector’s <.SPLRCU> 3.42 percent decline easily the worst. The financials sector <.SPSY> was up 1.25 percent, led by bank stocks.

Job growth in October was the best since December 2014, while the unemployment rate fell to 5 percent, the lowest since April 2008. The jobless rate is now at a level many Fed officials view as consistent with full employment.

“In the short term, this is likely to trigger increased volatility, but if rates edge up and the world doesn’t end, markets will start gaining confidence,” said Robert Craig, Private Client Investment Manager at MB Capital in London.

“For a while now, it has felt like the Fed has wanted to clear the psychological hurdle of that first rate rise, and it’s now got that opportunity.”

Traders raised the odds of a hike in December to 70 percent from the 58 percent just before the jobs data was released, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch program.

The dollar <.DXY> rose to a 6-1/2 month high after the data.

Higher rates increase borrowing costs for companies, while a strong dollar hurts their income from overseas markets.

At 10:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 2.34 points, or 0.01 percent, at 17,865.77.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> was down 5.03 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,094.9 and the Nasdaq Composite index <.IXIC> was up 5.21 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,132.95.

Among financial stocks, JPMorgan <JPM.N> rose 3 percent and gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500, followed by Bank of America <BAC.N>, up 3.8 percent and Citigroup <C.N>, up 3.2 percent.

Goldman <GS.N> rose 3.3 percent and was the biggest influence on the Dow, followed by Disney <DIS.N>, which was up 2.6 percent after reporting a higher-than-expected profit.

Exxon <XOM.N> was down 1.5 percent to $83.59, the biggest drag on the S&P, after the New York attorney general launched an investigation into whether the company misled the public and shareholders about the risks of climate change.

Energy stocks <.SPNY> fell 1 percent as crude oil prices slipped. Chevron <CVX.N> shed 2 percent and weighed the most on the Dow.

TripAdvisor <TRIP.O> slumped 10 percent to $74.82, while Kraft Heinz <KHC.O> was down 4 percent at $72.49 after both reported quarterly results below estimates. Kraft was the biggest drag on Nasdaq.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,222 to 758. On the Nasdaq, 1,452 issues fell and 1,126 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 11 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 107 new highs and 50 new lows.

 

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Charles Mikolajczak; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

Global stocks dip, bond yields rise as Fed zest fades

Photo courtesy of Reuters/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stock markets around the world fell and bond yields rose as investors weighed the implications that a U.S. interest rate rise before the end of the year would have for the global economy and markets.

The Federal Reserve, which kept its rates on hold as expected on Wednesday, took the unusual step of strengthening its language about timing in its statement, making it clear that a December rate hike was still possible. The Fed also removed a previous warning about slowing global growth.

Wall Street was lower, giving up some of Wednesday’s gains. The U.S. stock market initially reacted negatively to the Fed statement, but later reversed course to end near the day’s highs on Wednesday.

The MSCI All-Country World Index <.MIWD00000PUS> has recovered most of the losses that occurred beginning in mid-August on worries about slowed worldwide demand and the Fed’s plans. It was last down 0.6 percent on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury yields continued Wednesday’s rise after the Fed explicitly referred in its statement at the end of its two-day policy meeting to conditions necessary “to raise the target range at its next meeting”. Reference to a particular meeting is rare for the Fed.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 7 basis points to 2.16 percent <US10YT=RR>. The two-year note’s yield was 0.73 percent, highest since late September.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 32.98 points, or 0.19 percent, to 17,746.54, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 1.42 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,088.93 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 12.32 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,083.38.

The first estimate of third quarter U.S. growth, released on Thursday, showed the world’s biggest economy expanded at a 1.5 percent annualized pace, below the expected 1.6 percent. But economists expect growth to pick up in the fourth quarter, given strong consumer spending figures.

In Europe the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> was down 0.2 percent at 1,481 points. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei share average <.N225> gained 0.2 percent to close at 18,935.71.

Many investors are still not convinced about a rate lift-off given a recent run of soft U.S. data, making economic releases in coming weeks more crucial in determining a December move.

Economists expect a key U.S. manufacturing index due Monday <USPMI=ECI> to show the first contraction in the sector in 2-1/2 years, which would not be conducive for a rate hike.

The Fed’s stance contrasts to the European Central Bank and other major central banks, a factor that is expected to underpin the dollar. The Fed and ECB hold policy decisions within two weeks of each other in December.

The ECB last week signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus to boost prices and the People’s Bank of China followed with its sixth interest rate cut in less than a year.

The dollar gave back its earlier gains, with the euro trading 0.4 percent higher on the day at $1.0966 <EUR=>, having skidded to a 2-1/2 month low of $1.0826 overnight.

Crude oil futures were slightly higher one day after soaring more than 6 percent as the U.S. government reported an inventory build.

U.S. crude <CLc1> rose 0.4 percent to $46.11 a barrel. Brent <LCOc1> was steady at $49.05. Spot gold <XAU=> fell 2 percent to $1,150 an ounce.

(By David Gaffen; Additional reporting by Anirban Nag; Editing by Gareth Jones and Nick Zieminski)

Fed Announcement Causes Roller Coaster Market Ride

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rode a roller coaster Thursday afternoon following the announcement that the Federal Reserve would be holding interest rates at their current level.

Within minutes of the announcement, the Dow fell almost 90 points in a span of two minutes before gaining all of it back in the next six minutes.  The Dow then jumped about 30 minutes later to almost a 200 point gain on the day before slowly tumbling to finish the day 65 points lower at 16,674.74.

The S&P 500 followed a similar track to the Dow, falling in the minutes after the announcement and having a huge peak around 3 p.m. before ending the day down 5 points at 1,990.20.

The NASDAQ also road the roller coaster but because of early gains in the day only dipped into the red during the initial post-announcement fall.  The NASDAQ composite finished the day 4.71 higher at 4,893.95 to continue a week of steady gains.

Market Continues Roller Coaster Ride

The Market hit a flat track today as U.S. stocks rebounded a bit after the Dow plunged more than 200 points in the late afternoon on Wednesday.  The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 77 points, or 0.5%, after initially bouncing in and out of positive territory.

This roller coaster has put investors in a jumpy frame of mind while most braced for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates.  

The Dow, which typically moves about 150 points between peak and tough throughout the trading day, has experienced average daily swings of more than 400 points since August 19.

The market ride was punctuated by the Dow’s 1,000-point nosedive on August 24, its largest one day point decline on record.

Markets Begin September in Nose Dive

The stock markets ended one of the worst months in three years by starting September in a nose dive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 470 points and ended at 16,058.  The drop of just over 2.8% was the single worst opening day for a month in the market since March 2009.  The Dow has fallen 12.5% from the all-time high in May.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 also had their worst first day of trading since March 2009, falling almost 3 percent to 1,913.  Only three stocks in the index showed gains on the day:  Cablevision, American Airlines and a chemical company, Sigma-Aldrich.

The NASDAQ had its worst opening day of a month trading since October 2011.  It’s now 2% lower for the year.

Most analysts attributed the stock fall to continuing fears about the Chinese economy and volatility in the Chinese stock market.  Two major reports from China today showed significant slowing in the country’s manufacturing.

Many of the American stocks that took heavy hits in today’s trading have strong connections to China such as Apple and Qualcomm.

However, the U.S. gauge for manufacturing also turned in a dismal result Tuesday.  The ISM manufacturing index fell to its lowest level since May 2013.

Dow Snaps Losing Streak with Large Gain

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) snapped a six day streak of major losses with a huge gain in Wednesday, finishing more than 600 points higher than Tuesday’s close.

The index ended the day at 16,285.51, up 619.07 points or an increase of 3.96%.  The Standard & Poor’s 500 was 3.9% higher at 1,940.51 (up 72.90 points) and the NASDAQ was up 191.05 points, or 4.24%, to finish at 4,697.54.

The market actions also caused the policymaker for the federal reserve, William Dudley, to quietly backtrack on indications that an interest rate increase would be coming in September.  Dudley now is implying the rate is likely to increase in October.

The markets around the world were mixed, with Europe down Wednesday after increasing on Tuesday and China’s Shanghai exchange finishing 1.3% lower on a day of erratic trading.

Analysts are trying to play up what they call good economic news for the U.S. as an indicator a Chinese downturn will not impact the overall economy.  The Commerce Department announced orders for durable goods increased 2% in July and that consumer confidence and new home sales were also up during the month.

“People need to see that the U.S. economy is still okay and that China is not going to fall apart,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist for SunTrust, told the Washington Post.

The market losses have been crushing to most Americans who have invested in stocks.  Collectively, over $2.1 trillion in value was lost during the six day market decline, and it brought the largest selloff in 75 years.

The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 588 points. It was the 8th worst single day stock market crash in U.S. history, and it was the first time that the Dow has ever fallen by more than 500 points on two consecutive days. But the amazing thing is that the Dow actually performed better than almost every other major global stock market on Monday.  In the U.S., the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both did worse than the Dow. In Europe, almost every major index performed significantly worse than the Dow.  Over in Asia, Japanese stocks were down 895 points, and Chinese stocks experienced the biggest decline of all (a whopping 8.46 percent). On June 25th, I was not kidding around when I issued a “red alert” for the last six months of 2015. I had never issued a formal alert for any other period of time, and I specifically stated that “a major financial collapse is imminent“. But you know what? As the weeks and months roll along, things will eventually be even worse than what any of the experts (including myself) have been projecting. The global financial system is now unraveling, and you better pack a lunch because this is going to be one very long horror show.

Our world has not seen a day quite like Monday in a very, very long time. Let’s start our discussion where the carnage began…

The Economic Collapse Blog – The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

CNNMoney: Trading was halted 1,200 times Monday

The selling on Wall Street was so dramatic Monday that it triggered unprecedented emergency freezes on stocks.

Stocks and exchange-traded funds were automatically halted more than 1,200 times, according to Nasdaq.

The high level of trading pauses highlights just how extreme the selloff was in a short span of time. Fears about China’s economic slowdown caused the Dow to plummet over 1,000 points when the market opened. The Dow ended down 588 points, its worst decline since August 2011.

CNNMoney – CNNMoney: Trading was halted 1,200 times Monday

Wall Street Ends the Day Down Despite Early Gains

Investors were hopeful on Tuesday as U.S. stock seemed to have early gains, but those gains were reversed and U.S. stocks ended down within the final 30 minutes of trade.

Trading on Wall Street was voluminous . S&P 500 was down 1.4% even after a late selloff that gained them 2.9% earlier today.

The day ended with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 204.91 points, or 1.29%, to 15,666.44.  The NASDAQ Composite lost 19.77 points and S&P 500 was down 25.59 points, it’s biggest loss since 2011.

“You saw a knee-jerk drop and a knee-jerk recovery and now people are thinking about it,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass.

The Chinese central bank cut interest rates by 0.25%, making the one-year lending rate 4.6%. The reason was “aimed at lowering corporate borrowing costs and to ensure enough liquidity for stable credit growth.”

“I think it’s a real good start, but it’s on the low end of what the markets were looking for. It indicates China has stepped off the idea that markets will go it alone, and instead the government will support them. It’s not a question about how much assistance there is, now that they’ve made the commitment, it will be enough [to quell market sentiment],” McMillan stated.

Despite these efforts to boost China’s equity markets, the Shanghai Composite lost 7.63% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.96%.

The price of oil barely rose, but the slowdown in China kept prices from rising significantly. The price of copper rose 2.3%, but the values of both gold and silver fell.