Tag Archives: stocks

Brexit fallout crushes financial stocks

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. June 27, 2016.

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – U.S. bank stocks led a steep decline on Wall Street on Monday as aftershocks from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union roiled global markets for a second day.

The S&P financial index was down nearly 3 percent by late morning, with investors increasingly worrying about London’s future as the region’s finance capital.

JPMorgan fell 3.7 percent, while Bank of America dropped 5.4 percent. The stocks were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.

The Dow has now lost nearly 950 points since the “Brexit” vote outcome, setting it up for the worst two-day decline since August 2015.

European stocks were hammered yet again and the sterling fell more than 2 percent. The European banks index on Monday hit its lowest since July 2012.

“What I can say with certainty is uncertainty will remain,” said Tina Byles Williams, chief executive officer of FIS Group.

The selloff on Friday eroded $2.08 trillion in market capitalization globally – the biggest one-day loss ever, according to Standard Poor’s Dow Jones Indices, trumping the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, however, said the market impact from Brexit had been orderly so far and there were no signs of a financial crisis arising from the vote.

At 10:51 a.m. ET (1451 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 316.12 points, or 1.82 percent, at 17,084.63. The S&P 500 was down 42.83 points, or 2.1 percent, at 1,994.58. The Nasdaq Composite was down 118.77 points, or 2.52 percent, at 4,589.21.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower. Utilities and telecom service were the only ones in the black.

The Brexit vote, which Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen had said would have significant repercussions on the U.S. economic outlook, is expected to scuttle the Fed’s ability to raise short-term interest rates.

Traders have virtually priced out an interest rate increase this year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,573 to 363. On the Nasdaq, 2,372 issues fell and 342 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 5 new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 118 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Wall Street rises more than one percent as bank, tech stocks jump

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S.

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose to their highest in the last seven sessions on Tuesday, helped by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The S&P financial sector got a big boost from a rise in banking stocks as investors speculated on the possibility of a June interest rate hike.

Bank of America, JPMorgan, and Citigroup,were all up more than 1.5 percent each.

Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April meeting suggested a June rate hike had not been ruled out, surprising investors who had thought the Fed would stand pat until the end of the year.

“I think investors are becoming more comfortable with an early rate hike because even if the Fed does raise rates in June, it will remain extremely accommodative,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.

“I think the Fed wants to recalibrate the market’s expectations regarding a hike.”

Several Fed officials struck hawkish tones in separate speeches on Monday, calling for two-three rate hikes in 2016 if supported by economic data.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks on Friday.

Traders are now pricing in a 39 percent chance of a June hike, up from 4 percent last week, as inflation creeps toward the Fed’s 2 percent target rate and the labor market strengthens.

Data on Tuesday showed new U.S. single-family home sales surged to a more than eight-year high in April and prices hit a record high, offering further evidence of a pick-up in economic growth.

The Philadelphia Housing Index climbed to a one-month high after the data.

At 11:07 a.m. ET (1507 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 209.97 points, or 1.2 percent, at 17,702.9,  was up 26.04 points, or 1.27 percent, at 2,074.08 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 79.28 points, or 1.66 percent, at 4,845.06.

The S&P rose above its 50-day moving average for the first time in four days. The index has not closed above the closely watched metric in almost two weeks.

The gains were broad-based, with all 10 S&P sectors in the black. The technology index’s 1.65 percent rise led the advance.

Oil reversed early losses to turn positive, as investors awaited crude oil inventory data from the United States that was expected to show a shrinking supply overhang. [O/R]

Toll Brothers shares were up 5.4 percent at $28.55 as the company’s quarterly revenue beat expectations.

Twitter fell as much as 4.8 percent to a record low at $13.72 after brokerage MoffetNathanson downgraded the company’s stock to “sell” from “neutral”.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,351 to 549. On the Nasdaq, 2,090 issues rose and 515 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 25 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 66 new highs and 18 new lows.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Wall Street falls as consumer stocks take a hit

Traders work on the floor of the NYSE

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Friday as a decline in oil prices added to pressure from consumer companies after gloomy earnings reports from Nordstrom and J.C. Penney overshadowed upbeat April retail sales data.

The decline in the department stores’ shares marked the end of a week that highlighted the expanding clout of Amazon.com and the plight of brick-and mortar retailers struggling to keep up.

Crude prices slipped on Friday as a strong dollar weighed and investors cashed in on gains from a three-day rally.

That pushed the S&P energy index  down 1.07 percent.

U.S. retail sales jumped 1.3 percent last month, the largest gain since March 2015 and a bigger rise than economists expected, the U.S.

But consumer stocks, which have already been under pressure this week after a string of feeble earnings reports, fell again after Nordstrom and J.C. Penney reported lower-than-expected sales.

Nordstrom  slumped 13.60 percent and J.C. Penney Co Inc lost 3.78 percent. Dillard’s Inc, which gave a quarterly report that also disappointed Wall Street, fell 1.62 percent.

Amazon lost 0.96 percent but was still up 5.5 percent for the week following steady gains since last Friday.

Macy’s  rose 0.38 percent after its poor quarterly report on Wednesday triggered a selloff in U.S. retailers.

First-quarter earnings reports are nearly all in and, on average, have not been quite as bad as expected. The S&P 500 is trading at about 16.5 times expected earnings, according to Thomson Reuters.

“It’s hard to make a case that you’re going to have stellar equity market performance. In the context of low interest rates, equity valuations look about right,” said Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Asset Management in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

At 2:35 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.99 percent at 17,545.59 points and the S&P 500  had lost 0.85 percent to 2,046.66. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.45 percent to 4,715.91.

All of the 10 major S&P sectors fell, led by a 1.38 percent decline in the consumer staples index.

Nvidia surged 14.7 percent after the graphics chipmaker forecast better-than-expected revenue for the current quarter.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,022 to 930. On the Nasdaq, 1,660 issues fell and 1,081 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 15 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 27 new highs and 65 new lows.

(Additoinal reporting by Tanya Agrawal and Yashaswini Swamynathan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Wall Street rose Monday while investors brace themselves

Traders work on the floor of the NYSE

(Reuters) – Wall Street rose on Monday, with the Dow touching highs not seen since July, as Hasbro and Disney lifted the consumer discretionary sector while investors braced for a flurry of quarterly earnings reports through the week.

Chevron climbed 1.25 percent as crude prices steadied from earlier losses caused by the collapse of talks among major producers to tackle a stubborn global surplus.

A recent rebound in oil and signs that the U.S. economy was recovering have helped stocks rally from a steep selloff earlier this year that had pushed the S&P 500 down as much as 10.5 percent.

The index is now up 2.3 percent in 2016 and only about 2 percent short of its all-time high, while the Dow breached 18,000 for the first time since July 21.

That came despite bleak expectations for first-quarter earnings reports, many of which flow in this week. Earnings of S&P 500 companies are seen falling 7.7 percent on average, with the energy sector weighing heavily, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Investors will closely watch IBM and Netflix as they hand in their reports after the bell. Netflix was down 3.2 percent.

“This is a market where beating and exceeding does not guarantee you a higher stock price, but missing guarantees you’re going to get killed on the downside,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa. “That’s the sign of a fragile market.”

At 2:31 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.49 percent at 17,985.53 points and the S&P 500 had gained 0.52 percent to 2,091.54. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.34 percent to 4,955.09.

All of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.2 percent rise in energy. The consumer discretionary sector was up 0.84 percent, led by Hasbro. The toymaker jumped 5.7 percent after reporting better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue.

Disney rose 2.7 percent after “Jungle Book” dominated the weekend box office, grossing more than $100 million.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,066 to 913. On the Nasdaq, 1,925 issues rose and 888 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 19 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 52 new highs and 16 lows.

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