Extractions fell for a third day in a row on Thursday as hope for a U.S. coronavirus stimulus deal continues to decrease while infections across Europe are on the come up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 19.8 points lower, or 0.07%, at 28,494.20. Earlier in the day, however, the 30-stock usual was down more than 300 points. The S&P 500 slid 0.2% to 3,483.34 and the Nasdaq Composite pulled deny 0.5% to 11,713.87.
Facebook led most of Big Tech lower, falling 1.9% amid rising regulatory concerns. Amazon slump dabble ined 0.8%. Alphabet and Microsoft each fell 0.5% and Apple dipped 0.4%. Those losses were less offset by gains in bank and energy names. JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup were all up more than 1%. Exxon Mobil and Chevron gathered 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
Thursday’s losses marked the third straight daily decline for the major averages, their longest evading streak in nearly a month.
“Market volatility is set to continue in the weeks ahead as investors brace for a host of uncertainties—the timing of vaccine availability (after a setback for Johnson & Johnson), the extent and timing of additional US fiscal stimulus, and the election outcome,” wrote Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of broad wealth management at UBS. “The uneven recovery in the US economy also adds to investor concerns as the results season kicked off this week.”
Resources Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he and President Donald Trump are committed to getting a stimulus see to done and that while it will be hard to get one done before the election, they will keep trying.
Mnuchin, who layouts to speak with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi again Thursday, said progress has been made, specifically in notification to Democrats’ testing language for the deal. However, he said that “politics” may be getting in the way and that the Democrats still lust after an “all or nothing” deal.
Sentiment was also dampened as some European governments reinstate pandemic restrictions to curb a approve of wave of the coronavirus. France has declared a public health state of emergency and the U.K. is nearing a second national lockdown. European clichd benchmarks dropped broadly.
“We’re two-and-a-half weeks away from the election, so we’re expecting ongoing volatility,” said James Ragan, head of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson. “We’re advising our clients to stick with quality names and stay diversified.”
For the moment, the Labor Department said Thursday there were 898,000 first-time filers of jobless benefits in the prior week, excessive than a Dow Jones estimate of 830,000.
The uncertainty over new U.S. fiscal aid and disappointing economic data, along with the spike in coronavirus proves in Europe, came as investors waded through a slew of corporate earnings results.
Morgan Stanley reported third dwelling-place profit of $1.66 per share, exceeding the $1.28 estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. It generated revenue of $11.7 billion on the isolated of strong trading, a billion dollars more than the estimate. Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 1.3%.
Walgreens also propped a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher sales at U.S. pharmacies. The drugstore chain said it expects profit to bloom in single digits in 2021. Shares of Walgreens popped 4.8%.
“This is the second earnings season in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic … and arguably this settle upon be one of the most important earnings seasons ever,” wrote Jeff Kilburg, CEO at KKM Financial. “As investors globally try to gauge the current damage inflicted upon the economy by Covid-19, expectations are simply that earnings will not be as bad as they were in Q2.”
“In the regardless we have an overall positive tone transmitted, I believe the path for U.S. equites is higher,” Kilburg added.
Meanwhile, The Economic Times reported that France and the Netherlands are endorsing a plan for the European Union to curb the power of Big Tech, grouping by possibly breaking companies up.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed reporting.
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