The stock markets in the United States fluctuated from gains to losses on Monday driven by several factors. Earlier today, the stock markets traded higher after William C. Dudley, president of the Federal Bank of New York stated that he is becoming “more hopeful” that the economy is gaining strength. He added that the Federal Reserve will likely implement its accommodative monetary policy for a long time.
The stock markets traded to their highest level over the past six weeks after Federal Reserve Vice Chairperson Janet Yellen indicated her intention to maintain the monthly quantitative easing.
Tim Hartzell, chief investment officer at Sequent Asset Management commented, “As we keep going and making new highs, we get into new territory and the air keeps getting thinner and thinner up here. Everybody is watching Yellen and feel comfortable that she’ll continue QE, maybe even put more into the system.”
Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) reached as much as 16,000 for the first time, which was driven by The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) with nearly 2% gains to $138.14 per share. After hours, DJIA shed some of its gains to 15,968.95, up by 0.5% and still an all-time high.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the trading session with a sell-off due to the statement of activist investor Carl Icahn, who said he is “very cautious” with equities, and suggested that the markets could easily suffer from a “big drop” during a interview with Reuters.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 15, 968.95 (+0.05%)
- S&P 500- 1,790.36 (-0.43%)
- NASDAQ- 3,946.52 (-0.99%)
- Russell 2000- 1,107.17 (-0.81%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,081.30 (+0.88%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,723.46 (+0.45%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,225.43 (+0.62%)
Asia Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 15, 164.30 (-0.01%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,660.06 (+2.73%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2, 428.90 (+3.33%)
Stocks in Focus
Social network giant, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) declined 6.4% to $45.83 per share. Last month, investors became worried about the future of the company after CFO David Ebersman admitted that the number of teen users declined in the third quarter. TheStreet Ratings has a Hold recommendation on the stock.
The stock price of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) declined more than 10% to $121.58 per share today. The decline was caused by a series of negative reports about the electric car manufacturer of the past weeks. Most recently, law firm Morgan & Morgan filed a class action lawsuit against Tesla on behalf of in behalf of investors who purchased shares of the company between May 10 and November 6 this year. The lawsuit alleged that Tesla issued misleading statements regarding the safety of the Model S after three vehicles already caught fire.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) declined more than 6% to $41.14 per share after an analysts at Wunderlich Securities Inc initiated a coverage on the stock with a Sell rating due to concerns that the user growth of the micro blogging site is limited compared with its rivals in the industry. In a note to investors, Wunderlich analyst Blake Harper said, “We believe the engaged community has also created a barrier for attracting new users who may not yet understand how Twitter works. The company must better simplify and customize its product to reach new users in the mass market to justify its current growth projections.”
