Stocks - Dow Moves off Lows, but Earnings, Record Retail Plunge Weigh
Investing.com
Published Apr 15, 2020 12:49PM ET
Updated Apr 15, 2020 02:35PM ET
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The Dow moved off session lows on Wednesday, but remained under pressure as a trio of headwinds, including ugly economic data, worrisome earnings and a plunge in oil prices to an 18-year low, triggered a sea of red of across stocks.
The Dow fell 1.60%, or 383 points, but had fallen by as many as 716 points at the lows of the day. TheS&P 500 slipped 1.97% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.06%.
Underscoring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, retail sales in March plunged to their lowest ever reading as stay-at-home orders across several states and the closure of non-essentials business wreaked havoc on demand.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales fell 8.7% last month, confounding economists’ forecasts for a 8% decline. But the retail sales control group – which has a larger impact on U.S. GDP – rose 1.7%, compared with a forecast for a 2% decline.
Manufacturing activity in New York, which had already been under pressure pre-coronavirus pandemic, deteriorated further, plunging to a record low reading of -78.2.
Earnings from corporates, meanwhile, offered little reprieve, with quarterly results from Wall Street bank flagging more pain ahead
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reported a widely expected plunge in profit, with latter leading the downside, falling more than 6%.
The trio of banks also increased their reserves for credit losses by billions of dollars amid expectations for a jump in loan defaults from customers in the coming months.
The selloff on Wall Street was paced by rapid selling in energy, as oil prices slipped below $20 a barrel to an 18-year low amid worries the recently agreed co-ordinated production cut will do little to offset the coronavirus-led to demand. The U.S. also reported a record build in weekly inventories.
In Europe, meanwhile, Germany said it will begin reopening its economy next week.
Germany will start reopening its economy on April 20, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, according to published reports. Large public events will be banned until August 31 at the earliest, while schools will start in early May.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Investing.com
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.