U.S. equities finished lower, tumbling midday, after reports of lower-level Chinese trade officials cutting their visit short ahead of early next month’s high-level talks. The markets continued to digest the week’s relatively upbeat domestic economic data and a host of monetary policy decisions that were headlined by the highly-expected Fed rate cut. Treasury yields fell amid a dormant economic calendar and the U.S. dollar gained modest ground, while the Fed continued to intervene in the overnight interest rate market for a fourth day. Meanwhile, gold finished higher and crude oil prices capped off a wild week with slight losses. On the equity front, Texas Instruments announced a dividend increase, and Xilinx announced that its CFO will step down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 160 points (0.6%) to 26,934, the S&P 500 Index lost 15 points (0.5%) to 2,992 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 65 points (0.8%) to 8,118. In heavy volume, as a result of quadruple witching day—the simultaneous expiration of stock and index futures and options contracts—2.4 billion shares were traded on the NYSE and 3.1 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil moved $0.10 lower to $58.09 per barrel and wholesale gasoline lost $0.02 to $1.68 per gallon. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price rose $18.02 to $1,517.05 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—was up 0.2% at 98.50. Markets were lower for the week, as the DJIA decreased 1.1%, the S&P 500 Index lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.7%.
Treasuries finished higher, as the yield on the 2-year note was down 6 basis points (bps) to 1.68%, while the yields on the 10-year note and 30-year bond fell 5 bps to 1.72% and 2.16%, respectively. With the economic calendar void of any key releases, the U.S. dollar gained ground, and crude oil prices declined to cap off a wild week that was highlighted by Monday’s spike on the heels of flared-up geopolitical concerns after attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Also, the markets digested this week’s slew of monetary policy decisions, headlined by Wednesday’s highly-expected rate cut from the Fed, as well as continued relatively upbeat U.S. economic data.
©2019 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Member SIPC. All rights reserved.
Schwab Center for Financial Research (“SCFR”) is a division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. The information contained herein is obtained from third-party sources and believed to be reliable, but its accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed. This report is for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation, or a recommendation that any particular investor should purchase or sell any particular security. The investment information mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decision. All expressions of opinions are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.