Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Wall St. declines on China fears, weak profit expectations

Published 10/13/2015, 05:31 PM
Updated 10/13/2015, 05:31 PM
© Reuters. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow snapping a seven-day winning streak, on renewed fears of slowing growth in China and another bout of selling in biotech shares.

Biotechs led the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower and the S&P health care index <.SPXHC>, down 1.2 percent, had the biggest losses among S&P sectors, followed by industrials <.SPLRCI>, down 1.1 percent. The Nasdaq Biotech Index (NBI) was down 3.2 percent, extending recent declines.

Worries about third-quarter earnings reports continued to weigh on sentiment. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have dropped nearly 5 percent year over year, which would be the worst quarter for earnings in six years, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"There's a little nervousness about earnings reports that we'll be seeing over the next couple or three weeks," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston.

"The international situation continues to weigh on people's minds, and commodities were weaker earlier. In the absence of any strong new economic data or blow-away-type earnings results, people are still cautious, waiting for the Fed to decide on whether it's going to raise rates or not," he said.

After the bell on Tuesday, shares of Intel (O:INTC) were nearly flat in choppy trade following results, while shares of JPMorgan Chase (N:JPM), which also reported results, were down 1.7 percent.

Earlier in the day, data showed Chinese imports fell 20 percent in September due to weak domestic demand, indicating growth in the world's second-largest economy was sputtering.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) fell 49.97 points, or 0.29 percent, to 17,081.89, the S&P 500 (SPX) lost 13.77 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,003.69 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) dropped 42.03 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,796.61.

A devaluation of China's yuan currency in late August triggered a steep selloff in global equities. A bounce in commodities has helped stocks recover in recent sessions, as well as investors' bets that the Federal Reserve will keep benchmark U.S. interest rates near zero until next year.

Among results on tap this week are reports from more big banks and other earnings bellwethers, including Goldman Sachs (N:GS), Bank of America (N:BAC), and General Electric (N:GE).

Shares of Ryder System (N:R) were down 9.3 percent at $68.63 - the biggest percentage decliner on the S&P 500 - while FMC Corp (N:FMC) was down 3.1 percent at $36.35, both following disappointing forecasts late Monday. Ryder's stock hit its lowest close in nearly two years.

Molson Coors (N:TAP) rose 9.9 percent to $86.58 after SABMiller (L:SAB) agreed to be bought by AB Inbev (BR:ABI) for about $106 billion. The deal is likely to result in the disposal of SAB's 58 percent stake in its U.S. joint venture with Molson Coors.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,222 to 835, while on the Nasdaq, 2,039 issues fell and 763 advanced. The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 61 new highs and 47 new lows.

© Reuters. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

About 6.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 7.5 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.