US open: Stocks tumble as Greece impasse sparks selloff
US stocks slid early on Tuesday, as uncertainty surrounding Greece’s bailout negotiations drove a global selloff.
Dollar General Corp
$145.68
10:59 18/04/24
Dow Jones I.A.
37,775.38
04:30 15/10/20
Medtronic Inc.
$79.19
10:59 18/04/24
Nasdaq 100
17,394.31
12:15 18/04/24
Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 22 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost 10 and 27 points respectively.
Wall Street registered marginal gains on Monday, as investors digested a raft of mixed economic data, placing even more importance on Friday’s jobs report.
“Data once again showed flat spending and lower than expected inflation in April,” said Oanda’s senior market analyst Craig Erlam.
“This again supports the need to delay a rate hike although it does come from a month that Yellen has already referred to as falling within the transitory period which would once again mean consumers have more to spend over the summer.”
Meanwhile, US factory orders declined for the eighth time in nine months in April, figures released on Tuesday showed.
According to the Commerce Department, orders for goods produced in US factories fell 0.4% month-on-month in April, a sharper drop than the 0.1% analysts had expected.
European leaders met IMF head Christine Lagarde and ECB President Mario Draghi late on Monday in Berlin to prepare a draft agreement to present to Greece, which was described as the “final” offer to Athens.
“The U.S. futures market is incurring small losses in comparison to its European equivalents, but the jitters surrounding Greece span far and wide,” said David Madden, market analyst at IG.
“The uncertainty around whether Athens will have enough cash to make Friday’s repayment is making Wall Street wary.”
In company news, discount retailer Dollar General edged 2.93% higher as first quarter profit beat expectations, although sales fell short.
Restaurant chain Cracker Barrel rose 3.61% after it beat third quarter earnings and revenue expectations and declared a special dividend, while drugmaker Medtronic climbed 0.22% after reporting better-than-expected fourth quarter profit.
Clothing retailer Guess will report after the close and is expected to post a quarterly loss of 5 cents per share compared with 3 cents share a year ago.
The dollar plunged 1.86% against the euro, lost 0.78% against the pound and fell 0.67% against the yen, while gold futures climbed 0.40% to $1,193.50.
Oil prices edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 0.46% to $60.48 a barrel, while Brent climbed 0.03% to $64.90 a barrel.