Stocks Drop on China Data
18 Octobre 2019 - 11:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Alexander Osipovich and Max Bernhard
U.S. stocks fell Friday on global growth worries, but the
S&P 500 still closed the week with gains after a strong kickoff
to corporate earnings season.
The declines came after fresh Chinese growth data sparked
concerns about the world's No. 2 economy and a slew of negative
headlines pummeled some of the biggest U.S. companies.
The broad stock market index fell 11.75 points, or 0.4%, to
2986.20. Its 0.5% increase for the week marked the second
consecutive week of gains and was largely tied to upbeat quarterly
earnings reports from banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 255.68 points, or 0.9%,
to 26770.20, dragged down by sharp drops in Boeing and Johnson
& Johnson. The Nasdaq Composite declined 67.31 points, or 0.8%,
to 8089.54.
All three indexes are within 3% of July's all-time highs,
showing the resilience of the U.S. stock market despite concerns
about slowing growth at home and abroad.
Among Friday's movers, Boeing shares tumbled $25.06, or 6.8%, to
$344 after the disclosure of instant messages from 2016 suggesting
that the aircraft maker unintentionally misled regulators over the
safety of a key system on its 737 Max.
Johnson & Johnson shares slumped $8.47, or 6.2%, to $127.70
after the company said it was recalling one lot of baby
powder--about 33,000 bottles--after tests found small amounts of
chrysotile asbestos.
Technology stocks were broadly lower, with Netflix down $18.05,
or 6.2%, to $275.30 after several analysts cut their price targets
for the streaming-video company.
Of the 73 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings
through Friday, more than four-fifths topped analysts'
expectations, according to Refinitiv. That's largely because
expectations came down so much in recent months.
Besides the banks, Coca-Cola, United Airlines Holdings and
UnitedHealth Group are among the stocks that rallied this week on
better-than-expected results.
The parade of positive corporate news helped ease some of
investors' jitters over the trade dispute with China. Following a
preliminary agreement last week, President Trump has said he could
sign a "phase one" deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in
November.
"Some of the headwinds around concerns of a slowing U.S. economy
and trade tensions have slowed a bit this week," said Philip
Blancato, CEO and president of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset
Management.
Overseas, Chinese stocks dropped sharply after data showed the
Chinese the economy slowed further in the third quarter. The
benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.3%, its biggest decline
in a month.
Fresh data showed that China's economy grew 6% in the quarter as
business activity continued to deteriorate. Each quarterly slowdown
in Chinese growth has pulled the country's economic performance to
new lows not seen since the current measure of output was adopted
in 1992.
"The figures are painting markets in red today," said Ipek
Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at London Capital Group. "Pulling
below 6% would be really bad for investor sentiment, not only in
China, but globally."
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%. In the U.K., the FTSE
100 dropped 0.4% and the pound climbed 0.5% against the dollar.
Investors are watching developments closely before U.K.
lawmakers vote Saturday on a draft Brexit agreement struck with the
European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to muster
enough support for the deal in the U.K. Parliament.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasurys slipped to 1.747% from
1.757% on Thursday. Bond yields move in the opposite direction from
prices.
In commodities, U.S. crude futures fell 0.3% to $53.78 a barrel.
Gold futures slipped 0.3% to $1488.20 a troy ounce.
Write to Alexander Osipovich at alexander.osipovich@dowjones.com
and Max Bernhard at Max.Bernhard@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 18, 2019 17:08 ET (21:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
FTSE 100 (FTSE:UKX)
Graphique Historique de l'Index
De Fév 2024 à Mar 2024
FTSE 100 (FTSE:UKX)
Graphique Historique de l'Index
De Mar 2023 à Mar 2024