The stock markets in the United States declined today after recording significant gains yesterday. The decline showed that market volatility persists, according to Bloomberg.
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Rick Fier, director of equity trading at Conifer Securities commented, “Yesterday seemed to be more of a sellers strike with just small buying and today there does not seem to be much buying. If anything, it’s been selling all day after JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary) number pointing to higher rates.”
The Department of Labor reported that the number of job openings increased to 5.8 million on the last business day of July. The number of hires and separations dropped to 5 million and 4.7 million, respectively. The agency also reported that rate of layoffs and discharges fell to 1.1%. The number of positions waiting to be filled increased by 430,000 to 5.75 million, the highest since April 2010.
David Kelly, chief global strategist at JP Morgan Funds said,“Today’s job openings report is very important because with the combination of job openings and an unemployment rate down to 5 percent, it’s clearly a tight labor market and it copper-fastens some of the criteria the Fed looks at.”
[drizzle]On the other hand, Jeffrey Yu, head of U.S. single-stock derivatives trading at UBS commented. “The market is trying to consolidate from a huge move we had yesterday. We’re sitting in a range. It’s just that it’s very volatile within that range.”
Bloomberg noted wide market swings and fast changes in investors’ sentiment became more rampant since China’s surprising currency devaluation last month. The event ignited concerns that the Chinese economic slowdown could pressure the global growth.
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said the U.S. economy is not booming, but its growth rate in the range of 2% to 2.5% year-over-year is not bad.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 16,253.57 (-1.45%)
- S&P 500- 1,942.04 (-1.45%)
- NASDAQ- 4,756.53 (-1.15%)
- Russell 2000- 1,147.61(-1.22%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,269.98 (+1.12%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,229.01 (+1.35%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,037.8- (+1.74%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 18,770.51 (+7.71%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,131.31 (+4.10%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,399.31 (+1.98 %)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Apple declined nearly 2% to $1.92 per share. Analysts at CLSA reduced their price target for the shares of Apple to $150, but maintained their Buy rating. The equity research firm suggested that most investors expect a decline in iPhone sales volume for the fiscal 2016.
Netflix gained more than 4% to $99.18 per share. Analysts at Oppenheimer reiterated their bullish recommendation on the online video streaming company in a note to investors today. According to the analysts, the recent decline in the stock price of Netflix offers a compelling entry-point for investors.
Vitae Pharmaceuticals surged 89% to $14.99 per share. The clinical-stage biotechnology company announced positive top-line results from its Phase 1 clinical study of VTP-43742 in autoimmune disorders.
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