(Reuters) – U.S. stocks dropped on Monday as concern over global growth hit banks and other economically sensitive shares, although a late rally in energy shares left the market well above its lows of the day.

European banks led a global selloff in financial stocks as signs of stress in the sector mounted.

Uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve would raise rates this year also dragged down U.S. bank stocks, pushing the S&P financial index down 2.6 percent.

The index is off 14.6 percent for the year, the worst-performing of the 10 major S&P sectors. It is down more than 20 percent from its July 2015 high, confirming the sector is in the grip of a bear market.

“Investors’ attitudes seem to be worsening relative to the likelihood of a global recession. I think that’s what financials are reflecting – that their net interest margins are going to be further compressed under collapsing bond yields,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to a one-year low.

Shares of Morgan Stanley slid 6.9 percent in their largest one-day drop since November 2012, while rival Goldman Sachs fell 4.6 percent. Both closed at their lowest since 2013.

Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and other technology stocks that had lent strength to the market last year extended their decline from Friday. Fund managers said last year’s outsized gains among some Internet stocks made them the first choice to sell now.

Sharp selling in the beaten-down energy sector reversed late in the session, leaving the S&P energy index  up 0.1 percent and S&P 500 well off its lows of the day.

But Chesapeake Energy ended down 33.3 percent at $2.04 after sources told Reuters that the natural gas company had tapped existing adviser Kirkland & Ellis to explore restructuring options. Chesapeake said it has no plans to pursue a bankruptcy.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 177.92 points, or 1.1 percent, at 16,027.05, the S&P 500 lost 26.61 points, or 1.42 percent, to end at 1,853.44 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 79.39 points, or 1.82 percent, to 4,283.75.

Falling oil prices along with concern over a worsening global growth outlook have caused a sharp selloff in stocks this year. Investors have been searching for a catalyst that might change the market’s course.

“I don’t know if we’ve seen any tangible evidence of a turn in any macro economic conditions that would warrant a firm bottoming,” Luschini said, noting the selloff in financials.

Adding to recent woes for the tech sector, Cognizant dropped 7.7 percent to $54.05 after the IT services provider issued a weak sales forecast.

Amazon fell 2.8 percent while Facebook dropped 4.2 percent.

Volume was heavy. About 10.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 9.4 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,484 to 618; on the Nasdaq, 2,029 issues fell and 804 advanced. The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and 97 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 4 new highs and 495 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru and Marcus E. Howard in New York; Editing by Savio D’Souza, Nick Zieminski and Bill Rigby)

(Reuters) – The Nasdaq closed at its lowest since October 2014 on Friday, leading a selloff on Wall Street following weak forecasts from technology companies including LinkedIn.

LinkedIn dropped 43.6 percent to $108.38, a day after the company’s revenue forecast missed estimates.

Business analytics company Tableau Software lost half its market value and its shares hit an all-time low a day after it cut its full-year earnings forecast. Its shares ended down 49.4 percent at $41.33.

Big tech names also sank, including Facebook, which dropped 5.8 percent to $104.07. Alphabet fell 3.6 percent to $703.76 and Amazon slid 6.4 percent to $502.13. Netflix was down 7.7 percent at $82.79.

Stocks like Amazon and Netflix, which both more than doubled in price last year, have been favorites with hedge funds. Friday’s action may suggest some hedge funds may be taking a harder look at valuations.

“Tech has got a few shining examples of what happens if you disappoint,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York. “When that happens, that calls into question the valuations of all high-multiple stocks.”

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 211.75 points, or 1.29 percent, to 16,204.83, the S&P 500 lost 35.43 points, or 1.85 percent, to 1,880.02 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 146.42 points, or 3.25 percent, to 4,363.14.

Friday’s January jobs report non-farm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs, below the 190,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters as the boost to hiring from unseasonably mild weather faded. But strong wage growth and falling unemployment suggested a March interest rate increase could not be completely ruled out.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,330 to 720, for a 3.24-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,288 issues fell and 509 advanced for a 4.50-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and 26 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 3 new highs and 195 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler)

(Reuters) – A jump in materials shares helped U.S. stocks eke out a second straight day of gains on Thursday, though disappointing forecasts from retailers and anxiety ahead of Friday’s jobs report limited the advance.

The S&P 500 materials index rose 2.8 percent, leading the day’s gains, as declines in the U.S. dollar lifted copper and other metals prices.

The dollar index fell for a fourth day on the latest batch of soft U.S. data, which dampened expectations for U.S. interest rate hikes this year. A weaker dollar benefits big U.S. companies that depend on overseas sales.

Data showed non-farm productivity fell in the fourth quarter at its fastest pace in more than a year, while new orders for U.S. factory goods also fell in December by the most in a year.

The weaker data came ahead of Friday’s key monthly jobs report from the U.S. government, which is expected to show 190,000 non-farm jobs added in January.

Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York, said the market is trying to bounce from “deeply oversold” levels, but is struggling because of continued weakness in earnings and economic data.

“We’re now seeing a lot of weaker-than-expected economic data coming out,” he said. “The bullish catalyst just isn’t there to justify further rate hikes.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 79.92 points, or 0.49 percent, to end at 16,416.58, the S&P 500 gained 2.92 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,915.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.32 points, or 0.12 percent, to 4,509.56.

Consumer-related shares were among the day’s biggest losers in the S&P 500 after retailers Ralph Lauren and Kohl’s warned of a tough year ahead. Ralph Lauren sank 22.2 percent to $89.95 while Kohl’s fell 18.8 percent to $41.52, the two biggest percentage decliners in the S&P 500.

The consumer discretionary index was down 0.6 percent, while S&P staples was down 0.9 percent.

Stocks have had a rough start to 2016, hurt by tepid U.S. growth, falling oil prices and concern that the world faces a China-led slowdown.

UBS cut its year-end target and trimmed its earnings estimate for the S&P 500 on the weaker U.S. growth prospects.

Fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 4.2 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.

GoPro fell 8.7 percent to $9.78 after the camera maker forecast current-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.

After the bell, shares of LinkedIn dropped 24 percent following the networking site operator’s results and forecast.

About 9.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the 9.4 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,949 to 1,087, for a 1.79-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,659 issues rose and 1,123 fell for a 1.48-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and 83 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Don Sebastian and Nick Zieminski)

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks staged a late-day rally on Wednesday as an 8-percent jump in oil prices lifted beaten-down energy shares and financials rebounded.

The Nasdaq stayed weaker but ended well off the day’s lows.

Oil prices snapped a two-day rout as investors took advantage of a weaker U.S. dollar. Comments by Russia’s foreign minister reignited hopes of a deal among oil producers to trim output. The energy index jumped 4 percent.

“What (markets) are keying off of is the move in commodities and in the dollar,” said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates in Greenwood, South Carolina. “That is driving the rotation in the equity market out of momentum names into commodity-based names.”

Alphabet shares tumbled 4 percent to $749.38 and the company moved back below Apple in market capitalization. Apple, the world’s most valuable company, rose 2 percent at $96.35.

Alphabet’s selloff may be a combination of broad-based weakness in tech stocks that are trading at high valuations and the departure of Amit Singhal as senior vice president of the company’s search business, said Kevin Kelly, chief investment officer for Recon Capital Partners.

“That was a little surprising, especially this close after earnings,” he said, referring to Singhal’s departure.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 183.12 points, or 1.13 percent, to 16,336.66, the S&P 500 gained 9.5 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,912.53 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.71 points, or 0.28 percent, to 4,504.24.

Other high-flying tech names that fell on Wednesday included Amazon, down 3.8 percent at $531.07.

The dollar’s decline may have eased worries about the impact of dollar strength on U.S. multinationals’ earnings. Shares of 3M Co., up 3.1 percent at $152.52, led gains in the Dow.

The S&P materials was up 3.3 percent, the day’s second-best performing sector. The S&P financial index ended down just 0.1 percent after hitting its lowest in more than two years.

Stocks’ late-day rally reversed sharp losses in morning trading. U.S. data showed the economy’s service sector expanded at a slower-than-expected rate, raising concerns that weakness in manufacturing was spreading to other areas of the economy.

In other economic news, ADP data showed private employers added more jobs than expected in January. The data comes ahead of the government’s more comprehensive employment report on Friday.

Tepid U.S. growth, falling oil prices, and fears regarding a China-led global slowdown have combined to drive stocks down sharply since the start of the year.

After the bell, CBS Corp said media mogul Sumner Redstone had resigned as executive chairman. Shares of Viacom Inc, where Redstone is also chairman, shot up 10.6 percent to $49.40. CBS shares also were up.

During the session, about 10.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 9.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE 1,920 to 1,102; on the Nasdaq, 1,393 issues fell and 1,391 advanced. The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and 56 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 16 new highs and 236 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Richard Chang and James Dalgleish)

(Reuters) – Wall Street surged over 2 percent on Friday after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly cut interest rates and Microsoft led a major rally in technology shares, repairing some of the damage to the S&P 500’s worst January since 2009.

Slammed by collapsing oil prices that have fed doubts about the health of the global economy, stocks have had a volatile start to the year. At one point last week, the S&P’s loss for 2016 reached 11 percent before recovering to end the month down 5 percent.

The index rose 2.48 percent on Friday, its strongest day since September.

“Sentiment certainly had swung to a wildly negative scenario. In the short term, I’m not sure the sentiment backdrop we’ve seen was warranted,” said Michael Church, president of Addison Capital Management in Philadelphia.

“What happens if there is not a recession? What happens if China stabilizes and the Fed doesn’t raise rates aggressively?”

Global equities got a surprise boost on Friday after Japan’s central bank cut a benchmark rate below zero to stimulate its economy.

Stocks were also lifted by weak fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product growth data, which bolstered arguments that the Federal Reserve might go slower than expected on future rate hikes.

While the Fed has not ruled out a rate hike in March, many investors believe recent global economic and financial turmoil may lead it to wait.

Microsoft shares jumped 5.83 percent on better-than-expected results.

The software company was the biggest influence on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and helped push the S&P tech sector up 3.6 percent, its strongest session since August.

Fourth-quarter corporate reporting season is well under way, with S&P 500 companies on average expected to post a 4.1 percent drop in earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Excluding energy companies, earnings are seen rising 2.1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 2.47 percent higher at 16,466.30 while the S&P 500 gained 46.88 points or 2.48 percent higher to end at 1,940.24.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.38 percent to 4,613.95.

For the week, the Dow gained 2.3 percent, the S&P added 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq increased 0.5 percent.

That left the Dow down 5.5 percent for the month and the Nasdaq 7.9 percent lower, its largest monthly loss since May 2010.

In Friday’s trading, Amazon slumped 7.61 percent after its quarterly profit missed expectations.

Xerox gained 5.63 percent after announcing a deal with Carl Icahn to split itself into two.

U.S. crude oil rose 1.4 percent after trimming early gains on a report that Iran would not participate in a possible deal between OPEC and other producing countries to reduce output.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,789 to 339. On the Nasdaq, 2,290 issues rose and 584 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 16 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 100 new lows.

About 10.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)

(Reuters) – Wall Street climbed on Thursday as a blockbuster quarterly report from Facebook drove tech shares higher and a bounce in oil prices propped up the beleaguered energy sector.

Facebook surged 15.5 percent in its biggest one-day leap since 2013 after the digital advertising behemoth smashed expectations with a 52-percent jump in fourth-quarter revenue.

Helped also by a 4.28-percent gain in Alphabet, the S&P tech sector surged 1.48 percent.

The S&P energy sector rallied 3.15 percent, buoyed by a rise of almost 3 percent in oil prices due to speculation that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries would cut output to boost prices.

Optimism sparked by earnings from Facebook and a handful of other companies, as well as the bounce in oil prices, was behind most of the day’s improved sentiment, investors said.

But they also warned the gains could be short-lived and that a steep selloff this year caused by weak oil and worries about China’s economy may not be exhausted. The S&P remains down 7 percent for 2016.

“You had marquee names with pretty good earnings,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. “I’d love to say we’re onward and upward from here but I don’t think things work that way.”

The Dow Jones transport average, which Carlson said was a good indicator of the economy’s health, fell 0.8 percent.

Others remained cautious after comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee on Wednesday did not more strongly signal it could scale back the pace of future interest rate hikes in the wake of recent turmoil in global markets.

“The FOMC’s statement was less dovish than anticipated and very likely may have marked a top in the recent rebound we have seen,” warned Mohannad Aama, Managing Director, Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

The Nasdaq biotech index lost 3.5 percent and was on track for its biggest monthly fall in 16 years.

Abbott Labs was the biggest drag on the healthcare sector, with a 9.3-percent drop.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.79 percent to end at 16,069.64 points while the S&P 500 added 0.55 percent to 1,893.36. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.86 percent to 4,506.68.

After the bell, Amazon slumped 11 percent after its quarterly report let down investors. Ahead of the report, it had risen 8.9 percent.

During the session, PayPal surged 8.39 percent and Under Armour jumped 22.59 percent. Revenue at both companies beat estimates.

Among the losers, eBay sank 12.45 percent after it forecast weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,054 to 1,032. On the Nasdaq, 1,470 issues rose and 1,312 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed eight new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 166 new lows.

About 8.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.6 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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

(Reuters) – Wall Street rebounded over 1 percent on Tuesday, driven by a surge in oil prices and strong quarterly results from 3M, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

All 10 major S&P sectors ended higher, led by a 3.78-percent rise in the energy sector. Crude prices settled up 3.7 percent on hopes that OPEC and non-OPEC producers would tackle an unrelenting supply glut.

With oil at 12-year lows and threatening to put higher-cost producers out of business, investors have been reeling from a turbulent start to the year that has left the S&P down 7 percent from the end of 2015.

“This is a schizophrenic market. Big up days, big down days. No real direction,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. “We need some stability in oil prices for the markets to calm down from here and become less volatile.”

Laser-focused on Tuesday’s rebound in crude prices, Wall Street shrugged off a 6 percent slump overnight in Chinese shares, sparked by jitters over Beijing’s ability to calm domestic markets.

That left the gap between U.S. and Chinese stock indexes at its widest since at least August.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 1.78 percent higher at 16,167.23 points and the S&P 500 gained 1.41 percent to 1,903.63.

The Nasdaq Composite added 1.09 percent to 4,567.67.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve is not expected to move on interest rates at its two-day meeting, which began on Tuesday, investors will parse the Fed’s commentary to gauge how recent global turmoil affects the likelihood of future rate hikes.

Johnson & Johnson was the biggest influence on the S&P, up 4.96 percent, while Procter & Gamble rose 2.55 percent. Both companies reported profits that beat estimates.

Exxon climbed 3.68 percent, while Chevron rose 3.99 percent.

3M jumped 5.24 percent, giving the biggest boost to the Dow, after better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Overall profit expectations remain weak, largely because of oil. Earnings of S&P 500 companies on average are expected to fall 4.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Excluding energy, earnings are expected to grow 1.1 percent.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 8.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,591 to 507. On the Nasdaq, 2,010 issues rose and 809 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed three new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded eight new highs and 75 lows.

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