The stock markets in the United States dropped due to concerns about the declining oil prices and the slowdown of manufacturing in China. The equity markets worldwide also fell today.
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According to Bloomberg, the global equities lost more than $1 trillion in value this week amid the falling oil prices. Today, speculations arise that the largest members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will defend their market share against the shale producers in the United States.
Meanwhile, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer confidence in December increased to 93.8% from 88.8% last month. Economists expected the consumer confidence at 89.5%.
Commenting on the current market situation, John Carey, a fund manager at Pioneer Investment Management said, “People are still nervous about the oil price, and the European situation is worrisome.
[drizzle]He also noted that the consumer confidence numbers “looks good,” the retail sales data yesterday were “pretty strong,” and the domestic situation is encouraging. However, Carey said, “One school of thought is that the rest of the world is going to drag the U.S. down with it.”
On the other hand, Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates commented, “With falling oil prices and the stronger dollar, pipeline pressures are minimal. There’s no real threat of higher inflation. The threat has a lot more leeway.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,287.96 (-1.75%)
- S&P 500- 2,002.70 (-1.60%)
- NASDAQ- 4,653.60 (-1.16%)
- Russell 2000- 1,154.32 (-1.08%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,067.32 (-2.91%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,300.63 (-2.49%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,594.73 (-2.72%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 17,371.58 (+0.66%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,249.20 (-0.27%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,193.23 (+0.32%)
Stocks in Focus
Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) gained more than 9% to $76.16 per share after the company reported outstanding financial results for the fourt quarter. Its revenue rose 3% to $1.07 billion and generated earnings of $0.36 per diluted share. Analysts expected Adobe to report $0.30 in earnings per share on $1.06 billion in revenue.
The stock price of ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI) rose more than 30% to $5.87 per share. In fact, the stock gained as much as 70% during the early trading today. The upside was due to the positive results in the Phase 2 trial of CCX140, an inhibitor for the CCR2 chokine receptor intended for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy—a complication of diabetes that could lead to a severe kidney failure.
The shares of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) increased more than 1% to $37.11 per share after its co-founder Evan Williams reacted that he doesn’t care if Instagram has more users than his company. He emphasized that Twitter makes more money and has greater impact to the world than Instagram.
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