US close: Wall Street red as global instability concerns return
Wall Street finished Tuesday’s session well in the red after traders returned from the long weekend, reacting to fears surrounding political instability in Italy that had sent stocks in Europe tumbling on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down 1.58% at 24,361.45, the S&P 500 declined 1.16% to 2,689.86, and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.49% lower at 6,926.54.
Investors were seemingly wary given the prospect for a fresh set of elections in Italy after president Sergio Mattarella intervened on Sunday to block the populist government coalition partners from installing an avowed eurosceptic as their choice for finance minister.
Instead, the Italian president named Carlo Cottarelli as the caretaker prime minister, but traders are nervous ahead of the next general election, which could come as early as August.
“Worries about the policies of a potential Five-star and League coalition have been replaced by fears the populist parties could make even further gains in new elections,” noted IG market analyst Joshua Mahony earlier.
“The Italian president rejected the coalition's proposed appointment for finance minister on the basis of his eurosceptic views.”
"With the populist parties making great strides off the back of disenfranchised and dissatisfied Italians who wants a change from the status quo, we are likely to see any future election drive further gains for the Five-star and League parties, thus heightening the chance of a more radical upheaval.”
On the data front, US house price growth was steady in March, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index.
The 20-city index was up 6.8% on the year, in line with the previous month but ahead of economists’ expectations of a 6.5% increase.
Meanwhile, the national home price NSA index covering all nine US census divisions was up 6.5% in March, also in line with February.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Fed manufacturing business index is still to come at 1530 BST.
In corporate news, Kinder Morgan shares were up 0.94%, reversing some earlier gains, after the energy infrastructure company announced the sale of its Trans Mountain Pipeline system and expansion project to the Government of Canada for roughly $3.46bn.
CVR Energy plunged 9.15% after raising its quarterly dividend by 50% to $0.75 per share, and additive technology company Stratasys fell back 0.26% on the revelation that its chief executive had stood down after less than two years in the role.
American Woodmark rocketed 14.74% after reporting a 10% rise in fourth-quarter profits and Transenterix surged 8.95% after winning US Food and Drug Administration approval for expanded indications for its ‘Senhance Surgical System’.
Dow Jones - Risers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.68 0.85%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $74.04 0.38%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $55.32 -0.22%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $242.17 -0.23%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $98.01 -0.36%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $187.90 -0.36%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.70 -0.53%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $82.40 -0.54%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $42.97 -0.67%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.20 -0.90%
Dow Jones - Fallers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $105.93 -4.76%
American Express Co. (AXP) $97.72 -4.21%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $121.38 -4.12%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $227.03 -3.84%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $63.94 -3.68%
General Electric Co. (GE) $14.18 -2.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $153.62 -2.59%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.72 -2.37%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $119.40 -2.33%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $78.40 -2.30%
S&P 500 - Risers
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $106.34 5.41%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $35.36 4.87%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $124.16 3.72%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $53.29 3.56%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $66.73 3.38%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $36.51 3.08%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $43.03 2.94%
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $180.11 2.69%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $23.70 2.55%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $13.05 2.43%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Gap Inc. (GPS) $28.29 -14.14%
Morgan Stanley (MS) $49.96 -7.48%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $12.14 -7.04%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $17.75 -6.43%
Keycorp (KEY) $19.21 -6.07%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $48.48 -5.96%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.28 -5.93%
MetLife Inc. (MET) $45.16 -5.92%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $65.46 -5.70%
State Street Corp. (STT) $95.08 -5.59%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $326.18 2.40%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $52.02 2.30%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $62.62 2.07%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $283.76 1.76%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $253.69 1.05%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $296.50 0.94%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $230.30 0.76%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $205.25 0.76%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $185.74 0.44%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.98 0.43%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $297.71 -5.40%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $43.59 -2.94%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $58.23 -2.89%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $195.60 -2.73%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $134.55 -2.48%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $129.62 -2.36%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $90.54 -2.11%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $45.52 -2.11%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $67.06 -2.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $68.23 -1.97%