US close: Markets finish mixed as trade tensions remain hot
Trading on Wall Street finished on a mixed note on Wednesday, with the Dow ending in the red and other indices recovering somewhat from the heavy losses seen earlier in the week, as investors appeared to set aside at least some of their worries about a trade war between the US and China.
Dow Jones I.A.
38,147.45
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,468.46
10:25 25/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.17% to 24,657.80, while the S&P 500 rose 0.17% to 2,767.32 and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.73% to 7,280.70.
“The market's rebound waned as Wednesday went on, investors struggling to find a reason to keep the gains going into the afternoon,” said SpreadEx financial analyst Connor Campbell.
“The Dow Jones, which at one point looked like it was going to reclaim 150 points, ended up starting the US session flat, the wrong side of 24700.
“There was little for the index to really work with on Wednesday, beyond the ever-looming threat of a full-blown trade war between the world's two largest economies.”
Stocks ended in the red across the board on Tuesday, as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated after president Trump said his administration was considering hitting China with further tariffs on $200bn-worth of imported goods if it retaliated for earlier moves from Washington.
On the data front, the US current account deficit grew to $124.1bn in the first quarter, from a revised figure of $116.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Economists had been expecting a deficit of $129bn.
The deficit was 2.5% of current-dollar gross domestic product in the first quarter, up from 2.4% in the fourth quarter.
Sales of previously owned US homes unexpectedly dropped in May as a lack of inventory and higher asking prices weighed on demand, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Contract closings fell 0.4% month-on-month to an annual rate of 5.43m, short of estimates of a 5.52m figure and median prices increased 4.9% year-on-year to a record $264,800.
Meanwhile, as part of his prepared remarks before a central banking conference in Portugal, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell cautioned central banks against running an excessively hot labour market in case it undermines their credibility on low and stable inflation.
"With the economy strong and risks to the outlook balanced, the case for continued gradual increases […] remains strong,” Powell said in Sintra.
Powell added that unemployment appeared set for a further drop but with wage growth remaining somewhat moderate, "the labour market is not excessively tight".
In corporate news, shares in Winnebago shot up 10.02% at the open following the release of its third-quarter earnings, while those of Starbucks sunk 5.60% after cutting its third-quarter sales forecasts on Tuesday.
The company said it is planning on ramping up the number of store closures next year.
Elsewhere, Oracle lost 5.38% after its earnings beat but guidance was weak, while General Electric fell 1.16% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would replace the company with transatlantic drug retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance - up 3.34%.
AT&T dipped just 0.11% following a report that it was in talks to buy advertising technology group AppNexus.
Dow Jones - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $101.87 1.00%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $53.46 1.00%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $107.15 0.99%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.46 0.66%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $74.74 0.62%
Boeing Co. (BA) $342.69 0.46%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $186.50 0.44%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.28 0.41%
Visa Inc. (V) $135.72 0.29%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $125.35 0.25%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $125.01 -2.47%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $162.57 -1.46%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $142.63 -0.88%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.10 -0.85%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.26 -0.78%
American Express Co. (AXP) $96.42 -0.74%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $65.89 -0.71%
3M Co. (MMM) $198.08 -0.66%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $75.85 -0.63%
General Electric Co. (GE) $12.91 -0.54%
S&P 500 - Risers
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $48.08 7.54%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $47.50 7.25%
TEGNA Inc (TGNA) $12.06 5.78%
Apache Corp. (APA) $45.67 5.59%
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $59.19 3.55%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $30.24 3.14%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $58.20 3.08%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $336.93 3.01%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $18.54 3.00%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $416.76 2.91%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $52.22 -9.07%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $42.83 -7.46%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $7.31 -5.56%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $15.15 -4.72%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $50.61 -3.62%
Wyndham Destinations Inc. (WYND) $46.94 -2.72%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $251.49 -2.69%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $125.01 -2.47%
Chubb Corp. (CB) $126.66 -2.27%
Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR) $118.65 -2.02%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $48.08 7.54%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $47.50 7.25%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $68.00 5.25%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $336.93 3.01%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $416.76 2.91%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $98.34 2.84%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $362.22 2.74%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $34.81 2.35%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $160.61 2.31%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $254.90 2.29%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $52.22 -9.07%
CA Inc. (CA) $36.39 -1.46%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $128.18 -1.07%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $290.34 -0.90%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $86.56 -0.81%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $109.77 -0.73%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $71.91 -0.68%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $55.54 -0.61%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $80.10 -0.60%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $137.79 -0.58%