The stock markets in the United States declined except Russel 2000, up by 1.28% today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined 0.97%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.68% and the NASDAQ fell 0.18%.
Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter
According to Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, “The Russell 2000 led the selloff and is actually the first to find the bottom here.”
The European markets also suffered significant losses today. The EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR plummeted 3.61%, the FTSE 100 Index and Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index slid 2.83% and 2.87% respectively
The markets ended the trading session on the red after the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book indicated that economy is growing at a “modest to moderate” pace. On the other hand, the Federal banks of Chicago and St. Louis stated that financial stress is increasing.
[drizzle]In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers LLC commented, “The market was already in a bad mood ahead of the largely known weakness in retail sales this morning. “ He added, “Even the best report of the year would have failed to make much impact on investor sentiment captivated by signs of the bear and other factors such as the spread of the Ebola virus.”
On the other hand, Gene Peroni, portfolio manager at Advisors Asset Management opined that “the market is transitioning from fear to outright panic.” According him, “We’re moving toward the bottom of the market correction. We’re probably not quite there yet, but this is a necessary precursor to a bottom, that is, to have this type of panic, selling frenzy.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 16,157.41 (-0.97%)
- S&P 500- 1,865.00 (-0.68%)
- NASDAQ- 4,219.68 (-0.18%)
- Russell 2000- 1,075.14 (+1.28%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 2,892.55 (-3.61%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,211.64 (-2.83%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 8,571.95 (-2.87%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 15,073.52 (+0.92%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,140.05 (+0.40%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,463.87 (+0.71%)
Stocks in Focus
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) declined more than 4% to $15.76 per share after the company reported a marginal loss for the third-quarter due to its $16.65 billion mortgage settlement with the United States government in August. The bank reported losses of $70 million or $0.01 per share. Its net income including preferred stock dividends declined from $2.5 billion to $168 million. Its total revenue was $21.21 billion.
The shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) fell nearly 6% to $12.14 per share after the company reported lower than expected earnings results. The company posted $197 million net income from continuing operations or $0.23 per share, down from $229 million or $0.25 per share in the year-ago quarter.
The stock price of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) declined 3.57% to $75.20 per share after the company forecasted that it would deliver slower earnings growth over the next three years. The retail giant also reduced its growth net sales forecast for the current fiscal year between 2% to 3%, down from its previous estimate of around 3% to 5%. The company explained that the reduction was due to a tougher sales environment.
[/drizzle]
