The stock markets in the United States and around the world plummeted today as investors remained concern regarding the status of global economy amid the continued decline of oil prices.
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that global economic growth will be 3.4% this year and 3.6% in 2017.
“The slowdown and rebalancing of the Chinese economy, lower commodity prices, and strains in some large emerging economies will continue to weigh on growth prospects in 2016-17,” according to the IMF.
The IMF said the global growth could be derailed if regulators would not be able manage successfully the key challenges mentioned above as well as the gradual exit of the U.S. from its extraordinary accommodative monetary policy.
[drizzle]Investors becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the falling oil prices. The WTI crude dropped nearly 6.9% to $26.47 per barrel and the Brent crude declined 2.82% to $27.95 per barrel.
Laura Lamble, a senior investment director at Investec Wealth Management, told BBC that investors are primarily concern about China and the possibility that some oil companies would be forced to shut down their operations because of the plummeting oil prices. She said, “Investors have decided the world is a riskier place.”
The International Energy Agency warned that the global oil market could “drown in oversupply. The energy watchdog forecasted that the global glut may last until the end of this year.
Andreas Clenow, a hedge fund trader and principal at ACIES Asset Management, commented, “I am quite pessimistic about the equity markets for the next two to three months. I do not see a 2008-style scenario, but I do see a bear market coming.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 15, 766.81 (-1.56%)
- S&P 500- 1,859.33 (-1.17%)
- NASDAQ- 4,471.69 (-0.12%)
- Russell 2000- 999.36 (+0.45%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 2,882.59 (-3.28%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 5,673.58 (-3.46%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,391.64 (+2.82%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 16,416.19 (-3.71%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 18,886.30 (-3.82%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,174.38 (-1.51%)
Stocks in Focus
Accelerate Diagnostics tanked more than 11% to $15.34 per share. Citron Research reiterated its $1 price target on Accelerate Diagnostics and compared it to Theranos, a blood-testing startup investigated by health regulators. The short seller previously described Accelerate Diagnostics as a “controversial” with no viable product on the horizon after 11 years of unfulfilled promises.
Charles Schwab fell more than 4% to $25.27 per share. Analysts at Deutsche Bank lowered their price target on the stock from $38 to $35 per share.
International Business Machines declined nearly 5% to $121.86 per share. The tech giant’s fourth-quarter earnings of $4.84 per share on $22.06 billion in revenue beat the consensus estimate of $4.81 in earnings per share on $22.02 billion in revenue. However, its guidance missed the expectations of analysts.
The stock price of Twitter declined to as low as $15.48 per share, but managed to recover due to speculations that News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch acquired a stake in the microblogging company. Twitter shares closed $17.38 per share, up by more than 4%.
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