Selloff in the Stock Markets…..
U.S. stocks extended a recent selloff, falling into red figures for the year amid a global market slide on persistent tech sector pressure, crude oil’s resumed slide that weighed on energy stocks, and a drop for industrials on lingering global growth and trade concerns. The retail sector also contributed to the fall as a host of earnings reports was met with heavy scrutiny by the Street. Treasury yields were mixed and gold prices dipped, while the U.S. dollar gained solid ground.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tumbled 552 points (2.2%) to 24,465, the S&P 500 Index dropped 49 points (1.8%) to 2,642, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 120 points (1.7%) to 6,909. In heavy volume, 999 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 2.6 billion shares changed hands on the NASDAQ WTI crude oil plummeted $3.77 to $53.43 per barrel and wholesale gasoline dove $0.08 to $1.50 per gallon. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price traded $2.32 lower at $1,221.85 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—rose 0.6% to 96.80.
Housing starts for October rose 1.5% month-over-month (m/m) to an annual pace of 1,228,000 units, in line with the Bloomberg forecast. September starts were revised higher to an annual pace of 1,210,000. Building permits, one of the leading indicators tracked by the Conference Board as it is a gauge of future construction, decreased 0.6% m/m to an annual rate of 1,263,000, versus expectations of a 1,260,000 pace, and compared to September’s upwardly-revised 1,270,000 rate. Single-family home starts, sometimes referred to as the backbone of housing demand, continued to decline.
Treasuries finished mixed, with the yield on the 2-year note ticking 1 basis point higher to 2.80%, while the yields on the 10-year note and 30-year bond dipped 1 basis point to 3.05% and 3.31%, respectively.
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