The stock markets of the United States declined significantly due to the warnings of the Federal Reserve regarding the global economic outlook. The equity markets in other countries were also down today.
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In an interview with Bloomberg, Eric Green, director of research and senior managing director at Penn Capital commented that investors are concern that the “Federal Reserve sees something that we’re not seeing in the data.” He added, “Some investors wanted then to rip the band-aid and get the first one done. Then we wouldn’t have to obsess about it for two weeks before each meeting.”
The Federal Reserve maintained the current 0% to 0.25% target range for the federal funds rate. Chairperson Janet Yellen indicated that the “recent global economic and financial developments” will probably hold back economic activity and will likely “put further downward pressure on inflation in the near-term.”
Based on the statement of the Fed, Pedro Ricardo Santos, a broker at X-Trade Brokers DM SA commented that the perception of the market is that the central bank is “not only worried about the U.S. economy, but also the global growth.”
[drizzle]Santos added, “There are very real reasons for concern on this front. Without a doubt, things have changed. The Fed would have to hike in 2016.”
The upcoming data on home sales and durable goods orders next week could help investors evaluate the current economic situation of the United States. The Federal Reserve predicted that the U.S. GDP will grow at a moderate pace.
Penn Capital’s Green believed that the market would continue to experience volatility. According to him, “The moves we’re seeing could easily be profit-taking from a very big run we’ve had over the last week and a half. We have options expirations today which are going to cause volatility.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 16, 382.91 (-1.79%)
- S&P 500- 1,958.13 (-1.61%)
- NASDAQ- 4,893.95 (+0.10%)
- Russell 2000- 1,181.91 (+0.57%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,157.30 (-3.03%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,104.11 (-1.34%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,916.16 (-3.06%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 18,070.21 (-1.96%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 21,920.83 (+0.30%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,251.27 (+0.44%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Freeport-McMoRan declined almost 11% to $10.74 per share after the company announced its intention to offer and sell from time to time additional shares of its common stock worth as much as $1 billion. The world’s largest copper producer also completed the sale of its 96.7 million shares.
La Quinta Holdings plummeted more than 15% to $16.05 per share. The company’s longtime CEO Wayne Goldberg resigned from his position. La Quinta appointed its CFO Keith Kline to serve as interim president and CEO.
TRACON Pharmaceuticals surged 36% to $15.96 per share. The increase in the company’s stock price was due to the positive result of its single-patient compassionate-use Phase 2 clinical trial.
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