The stock markets in the United States declined today after data showed that the growth of home prices slowed down and consumer confidence dropped.
The S&P/Case Schiller Index of property values in 20 cities across the country increased 13.4% in December last year compared in the same period a year ago, but it is lower compared in the year ended November. The increase of home prices is slowing down because of rising mortgage rates and the impact of extreme weather conditions that weakened home purchases over the past several months.
On the other hand, the Conference Board Index, which measures the confidence of American consumers declined to 78.1 percentage points from 79.4 percentage points (revised) in January. The data is lower compared with the 80 percentage points estimated by economists polled by Bloomberg.
Commenting on the movements of the stock markets, Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research told Bloomberg, “We’re kind of teetering with the new all-time high. People are taking a step here and watching if we can get there again.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 16,169.13 (-0.23%)
- S&P 500- 1,844.56 (-0.17%)
- NASDAQ- 4,286.14 (-0.16%)
- Russell 2000- 1,172.67 (-0.16%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,157.31 (+0.o1%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,830.50 (-0.52%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,699.35 (-0.10%)
Asia Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 15,051.60 (+1.44%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,317.20 (-0.32%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,157.91 (-2.56%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP) declined almost 9% to $4.88 per share after the company surprisingly reported $144 million net losses of $0.34 per share in the fourth quarter due to charges related to its acquisition of OfficeMax Inc (NYSE:OMX). The company reported $0.03 losses per share on adjusted basis. Its sales increased 33% to $3.49 billion during the quarter. Wall Street analysts projected that the company will deliver $0.03 earnings per share.
The shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) gained 6% to $56.25 per share after reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings. The retailer posted $2.13 earnings per share, higher than the $2.17 consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose nearly 14% to $248 per share after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas raised his price target for the stock to $320 a share. In his report, Jonas presented a bull case related to the big investments of the electric car manufacturer in battery manufacturing, which could lead Tesla to become a leading manufacturer of advanced batteries.
