Market News: Amazon.com, Inc., Facebook Inc, Netflix, Inc.

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The stock markets in the United States fluctuated today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ were down earlier today after reports that the European Central Bank is still far from implementing a large-scale asset purchases in the capital markets.

The DJIA and S&P 500 ended the trading session with gains, but the NASDAQ was slightly down due to selloff in momentum stocks.

Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities opined, “The rest of the market caught up with what’s going on in the NASDAQ. What’s causing it? I think it’s just momentum feeding on itself. Downward price action is feeding on itself, and it’s bringing out more sellers.”

On the other hand, ING Bank economist Carsten Brzeski commented that ECB President Mario Draghi is “trying to accommodate both sides” of the debate regarding quantitative easing. According to him, Draghi’s strategy is “very risky.”

Separately, the National Association of Realtors reported that the number of pending home sales was better than expected in March, which probably lifted the stock markets today. The association said that Pending Home Sales Index (based on contracts signed) increased 3.4% to 94.4% last month.

According to TD Securities strategist Gennadiy Goldberg, “”The stronger pending home sales report hints at resurgence in housing market momentum during the typically busier spring buying season.”

U.S. Markets

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 16,448.74 (+0.53%)
  • S&P 500- 1,869.43 (+0.32 %)
  • NASDAQ 4,074.40 (-0.03%)
  • Russell 2000- 1,118.71 (-0.39%)

European Markets

  • EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,165.84 (+0.59%)
  • FTSE 100 Index- 6,700.16 (+0.22%)
  • Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,446.36 (+0.48%)

Asia-Pacific Markets

  • Nikkei 225- 14,288.23 (-0.98%)
  • Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,132.53 (-0.41%)
  • Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,134.97 (-1.52%)

Stocks in Focus

The stock price of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) declined more than 2% to $296.24 per share today, extending a 9.8% decline last Friday. Investors were spooked by the business outlook of the company for the second quarter as it expected to incur losses in the range of $55 million to $455 million due to its continued investments in expanding its products and services.

The shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) dropped nearly 3% to $56.13 per share today. The stock was affected by the investors’ selloff in momentum stocks. The stock price of the social network giant is still up by 4.7% over the past three months and 14.9% higher over the past six months.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), another momentum stock also fell more than 2% to $314.21 per share today. Aside from the selloff, the news about the plan of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to start producing original programming to stream on Xbox One and Xbox 360 platform also had a negative impact on the shares of Netflix.

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