The stock markets in the United States declined due to weaker-than-expected manufacturing and jobs data. Investors are concern that the U.S. economic growth may be slowing down.
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Jim Dunnigan, chief investment officer at PNC Bank told Bloomberg, “We’re still coming out with this idea that the economy slowed a bit. We’re in no man’s land as we start earnings.”
Today, the ADP Research Institute reported that American companies added 189,000 jobs in March, lower than the 214,000 jobs in February. Economists polled by Bloomberg estimated that the economy created 245,000 jobs last month.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics said, “The fallout from the collapse in oil prices and surge in value of the dollar is hitting the job market. Despite the slowdown, underlying job growth remains strong enough to reduce labor market slack.”
On the other hand, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the manufacturing index declined 1.4% to 51.5% last month. The new orders index also dropped 0.7% to 51.8%.
Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics commented, “We’re getting the impact from slower foreign demand.” He added that the “economic growth is adding up on the weak side” in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the country’s oil inventory increased by 4.77 million barrels or 1% to 471.4 million barrels last week. The increase is more than the 4.18 million barrels estimated by analysts.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,698.18 (-0.44%)
- S&P 500- 2,059.69 (-0.40%)
- NASDAQ- 4,880.23 (-0.42%)
- Russell 2000- 1,251.74 (-0.08%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,714.89 (+0.47%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,809.50 (+0.54%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 12,001.38 (+0.29%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 19,034.84 (-0.90%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 25,082.75 (+0.73%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 4,123.90 (+1.79%)
Stocks in Focus
General Motors declined more than 2% to $37.74 per share after reporting that its vehicle sales in the United States declined 2% in March. GM delivered 249,875 vehicle last month.
The share of GoDaddy climbed more than 30% to 26.52 per share during its initial public offering (IPO) today. The company is trading under the symbol “GDDY” at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The stock price of Voltari increased more than 147% to $2.50 per share after Carl Icahn disclosed a huge stake in the company. The activist investor now owns 4.74 million shares or 52.3% stake in the company. Voltari is a digital marketing and advertising solutions provider.
