U.S. Stocks Seeing Further Downside After Coming Under Pressure In Early Trading
After under pressure early in the session, stocks have seen further downside over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages have all moved sharply lower, partly offsetting the strong upward move seen over the three previous sessions.
In recent trading, the major averages have fallen to new lows for the session. The Dow is down 458.12 points or 1.4 percent at 32,702.71, the Nasdaq is down 200.54 points or 1.9 percent at 10,415.66 and the S&P 500 is down 55.91 points or 1.5 percent at 3,772.20.
The sharply pullback on Wall Street comes as traders cash in on recent strength in the markets amid lingering uncertainty about the results of the U.S. midterm elections.
Control of both houses of Congress remains up for grabs following yesterday’s elections, although Republicans are projected to earn a narrow majority in the House.
The performance by Republican was not as strong as many had expected, with many candidates backed by former President Donald Trump underperforming.
It remains unclear which party will have a majority in the Senate, as key races in Georgia, Nevada and Arizona currently remain undecided.
Traders may also be moving money out of stocks ahead of tomorrow’s highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
A slump by shares of Disney (DIS) is also weighing on Wall Street, with the entertainment giant plunging by 12.6 percent to a two-year intraday low.
The steep drop by Disney comes after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter results that missed analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of Meta Platforms (META) have surged by 6.3 after the Facebook parent announced plans to cut more than 11,000 jobs.
Sector News
Networking stocks continue to turn in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, resulting in a 4.1 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.
A steep drop by the price of crude oil also continues to weigh on energy stocks, with crude for December delivery plunging $2.57 to $86.34 a barrel.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is down by 4.1 percent, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is down by 3.0 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is down by 2.7 percent.
Computer hardware stocks also continue to see considerable weakness on the day, as reflected by the 2.6 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Tobacco, semiconductor and stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped by 1.1 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks finished the day modestly lower. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure following a disappointing ten-year note auction. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.8 basis points at 4.164 percent.
Source: Read Full Article