The stock markets in the United States suffered a selloff amid increasing speculations that the Federal Reserve would end the near-zero interest rates next month.
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The U.S. equity markets were also negatively impacted by the strengthening of the dollar, which also led to the decline of bonds and emerging-market assets.
The Department of Labor reported the most robust jobs growth on Friday as the companies added 271,000 jobs in October—a sign that the labor market continues to improve, and the economy is strong enough to withstand an interest rate hike.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth, commented, “People sort-of stewed on it over the weekend that we’re facing a rate hike in December. I don’t think it’s the 25 basis points that’s necessarily leading the market down, but what comes after. How fast and furious do the rate hikes come now that this cheap money environment is coming to an end?”
[drizzle]On the other hand, Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel Corp., said there is no compelling reason for investors to “step in and buy a lot right now.” He added, “I don’t think anyone came into work today figuring that they had to load up on stocks.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 731.62 (-1.00%)
- S&P 500- 2,078.66 (-0.98%)
- NASDAQ- 5,095.30 (-1.01%)
- Russell 2000- 1,187.33 (-1.03%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,418.36 (-1.44%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,295.16 (-0.92%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,815.45 (-1.57%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 19,642.74 (+1.96%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,726.77 (-0.61%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,840.36 (+1.24%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Macy’s declined more than 5% after Citigroup reduced its earnings estimate for the company. Citigroup analyst Paul Lejuez estimated that Macy’s will deliver $0.47 in earnings per share, down from his previous estimate of $0.52 per share.
The shares of Kohl’s Corporation also declined more than 5% to $43.97 per share because of the same reason. Lejuez cut its earnings estimate for the company from $0.69 per share to $0.58 per share.
In a note to investors, Lejuez said the department store channel faced a tough quarter. According to him, the combination of warm weather and weak traffic trends would likely lead to a “shortfall in sales” and he expected “inventory to appear elevated across the sector.”
Mallinckrodt plummeted more than 16% to $58.16 per share. Citron Research tweeted that the company is a “far worse offender” of the reimbursement system than Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
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