US close: Dow ends lower as scepticism over tax cuts grows
US stocks finished mixed on Thursday following downbeat trading in the previous session, as investors grew increasingly sceptical that President Donald Trump will be able to deliver on his promised tax cuts to boost business.
Dow Jones I.A.
37,986.40
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,037.65
11:20 19/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.03% lower at 20,661.30, while the S&P 500 closed up 0.19% to 2,348.45 and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.66% to 5,367.56
The downturn in stocks came after the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note dropped to a three-week low on Tuesday as investors grew concerned whether Trump will be successful in repealing Obamacare given his intention to divert the programme's funding to his governmental spending agenda, ahead of a congressional vote this week on healthcare policy.
He had also promised to spend $1trn on infrastructure, lax financial regulation and to cut taxes.
However, Jasper Lawler - senior market analyst at London Capital Group - said it was simplistic to lay the blame for the market decline at Trump’s door as the first US rate hike 2017, a slump in oil prices, the future of quantitative easing under higher inflation and end of quarter portfolio manoeuvring have also played their part.
“Still the Trump presidency, which has played such a large role in the rise in markets since November, is not to be ignored as a factor.
“Probably the two biggest contributors to the idea that the world is reflating; a Trump-led fiscal boost and rising oil prices have come unstuck in the past fortnight.”
Meanwhile, oil prices retreated after data from the Energy Information Administration revealed that US crude inventories rose by 5m barrels last week, compared with the 2.8m increase expected, while crude imports increased by 1.069m barrels per day.
West Texas Intermediate was down 0.23% to $48.13 per barrel and Brent crude fell 0.43% to $50.74.
On the data front, existing home sales fell 3.7% in February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.48m from 5.69m in January.
Analysts had been expecting a more modest decline of 2%.
Despite last month's decline, February's sales pace was still 5.4% above a year ago.
The median price for an existing home was $228,400, up 7.7% from February 2016 and marking the fastest price increase since last January.
It also marked the 60th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
In corporate news, Sears slumped 12.31% after the retailer said it doubted that it would be able to “continue as a going concern” if the turnaround plan failed.
Nike dropped 7.05% after it issued a downbeat outlook for sales growth late on Tuesday.
Chemicals maker PPG Industries was 0.22% lower after Dutch rival AkzoNobel rejected a second takeover offer from the company.
American Airlines was down 0.17% after a downgrade to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ by Morgan Stanley.
Dow Jones - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $65.03 1.28%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $141.42 1.13%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.37 0.94%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.10 0.65%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.47 0.64%
Boeing Co. (BA) $176.99 0.58%
Visa Inc. (V) $88.51 0.52%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $174.78 0.52%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $147.36 0.51%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $70.26 0.50%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.92 -7.05%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.72 -0.90%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $231.07 -0.83%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $126.26 -0.78%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $79.18 -0.73%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $63.50 -0.64%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $167.03 -0.40%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.38 -0.28%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $90.97 -0.22%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $111.93 -0.21%
S&P 500 - Risers
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $92.14 3.41%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $62.45 2.76%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $61.22 2.72%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $167.79 2.62%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $66.95 2.56%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $34.56 2.37%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.93 2.34%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $12.86 2.31%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $30.66 2.20%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $45.02 2.18%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $2.11 -10.59%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $53.92 -7.05%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $42.54 -3.43%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $9.87 -2.85%
L Brands Inc (LB) $47.86 -2.68%
GGP Inc (GGP) $22.66 -2.37%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $22.81 -2.35%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $26.80 -2.26%
Macerich Co (MAC) $62.84 -2.26%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $165.40 -2.11%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $92.14 3.41%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $167.79 2.62%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.93 2.34%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $30.66 2.20%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $26.06 2.12%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $108.07 2.04%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $50.97 1.94%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $46.45 1.82%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $255.01 1.73%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $102.84 1.71%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.10 -1.73%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $21.64 -1.64%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $34.33 -1.18%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $22.49 -1.10%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $169.56 -1.07%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $35.17 -1.07%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $41.40 -0.74%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $56.40 -0.72%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $369.14 -0.50%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $123.37 -0.36%