After the dust settled on the release of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, the market was not happy with the company. Trading in Apple shares is likely to have a big effect on the Nasdaq today, but there are other major stocks moving pre-market.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), J.C. Penney Company (NYSE:JCP), Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT), Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) and Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE:ED) all saw heavy trading this morning.
Market levels
The S&P 500 closed at 1,683.99 on Monday, while Nasdaq closed at 3,729.02 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day at 15,191.06. The DJIA has been drastically changed this morning after the announcement that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) will be added to the index.
In international markets, the FTSE 100 was down a fraction this morning to 6,579.13, the Nikkei rose slightly to 14,425.07, Shanghai was up to 2,241.27, Eurostoxx traded up to 2,857.64, and the Hang Seng was down to 22,937.14.
On commodities, oil was trading up on the Brent exchange, with a barrel going for $111.55, up 0.27% today. Gold traded down o.15% to 1,361.70 per ounce. One U.S. Dollar was trading for 0.7537 Euro, 100.22 Yen, and 0.6342 British Pounds.
Futures in the U.S. stock market were down a small amount before trading opened in New York. Nasdaq futures were the hardest hit, dropping 12.75 points, the S&P 500 lost 1.8 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a single point.
Market and economic news
Dow Jones Changes were the biggest news on the street just before the market opened. Dow Jones announced this morning that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) shares would be added to the index. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) will be moved from the index when the shuffle takes place on September 20.
The change is hoped to change the efficacy of the DJIA in reflecting the wider market. The importance of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) stock on the index has been a point of contention, and the index has faded in popularity compared to the S&P 500 because of the problems.
Syrian Development will be intensely watched by traders on today’s market. The United States looks like it will not be headed for war in the Middle East any time soon, relieving the short term pressure on traders. The effect of the war in Syria on the market has likely lulled for now, letting investors back to worry about taper talk, and mortgage crises.
Stocks in focus
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continued to lose value this morning as a slew of reports reduced targets for the company on the release of its new smart phones. Shares in the consumer electronics producer were down by more than 4% in pre-market trading after those reports were released.
On yesterday’s market shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell by more than 2%. The market is not happy with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) smart phone releases, but there are likely more products coming from Cupertino this autumn. The company shouldn’t be written off just yet.
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), in contrast to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has done China properly. The company announced this morning that it was significantly expanding into Shina’s banking channel. The stock traded up a fraction in pre-market on the announcement.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) the mobile carrier officially launched its record breaking $49 billion bond deal this morning. The debt, which will be used to buy out the part of the Verizon network owned by Vodafone, is more than twice the size of the previous largest corporate bond offer.
