The stock markets in the United States plummeted as investors are becoming more concern that equities climbed too fast while the global economic recovery is uneven. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) reached as 17,000 points for the first time. The other U.S. benchmark indexes also reached all-time highs.
Yesterday, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius predicted that the Federal Reserve would increase the benchmark interest rate in the third quarter of 2015, which is earlier than the anticipated first quarter of 2016. Investors reacted negatively on his projections, which drove the stock markets lower.
This week, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that the agency would reduce its forecast for the global economic growth. Lagarde also stated that investments remain weak, and risks still exist in the United States even if economic data from the employment situation to the housing market in the country is improving.
Peter Dixon, a global equities economist at Commerzbank told Bloomberg, “Stocks have had a good run, and people may have gotten a bit carried away, now might be a good time to take some profit. He added, “Second-quarter numbers for Germany and perhaps the U.K. may be below where we might have expected them a couple of weeks ago.”
On the other hand, Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, a strategist at Deutsche Postbank AG commented, “Equities are near all-time highs and the air will only get thinner. We need a strong results season now to support equities because investors will keep wondering when the Fed will hike rates, and this can bring some nervousness to the market.”
U.S. Markets
• Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 16,906.62 (-0.69%)
• S&P 500- 1,963.79 (-0.70%)
• NASDAQ- 4,391.46 (-1.35%)
• Russell 2000- 1,171.69 (-1.27%)
European Markets
• EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,184.38 (-1.44%)
• FTSE 100 Index- 6,738.45 (-1.25%)
• Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,772.67 (-1.35%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
• Nikkei 225- 15,314.41 (-0.42%)
• Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,541.38 (0.00%)
• Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,180.47(+0.19%)
Stocks in Focus
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) declined more than 6% to $37.56 per share as the popular microblogging company continues to shake up its management team to improve its declining user base and increase its revenue. The company recently appointed Katie Stanton as head of global media. She was the former head of Twitter’s international strategy operations. Stanton took over the role of Chloe Sladden, who left the company.
Other internet or social media stocks including Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Linkedln Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) also dropped today. Facebook fell almost 4% to $62.76 per share.
Linkedln slumped more than 6% to $158.62 per share while Pandora plummeted more than 7% to $25.80 per share. It is obvious that investors sell off their stockholdings in technology companies.
The stock price of SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) fell more than 5% to $64.61 per share. The company’s CEO Lyndon R. Rive sold 43,275 shares at an average price of $71.58 per share last Thursday.
