US close: Dow tumbles more than 600 points after slew of data
Wall Street stocks closed well below the waterline on Wednesday, with the Dow tumbling more than 600 points, as traders digested some key economic data.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.81% at 33,296.96, as the S&P 500 lost 1.56% to 3,928.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.24% weaker at 10,957.01.
The Dow closed 613.89 points lower on Wednesday, significantly extending the losses it recorded on Tuesday.
“Stocks continue to wonder where the next driver of a bounce comes from,” questioned IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“For the moment it seems that investors are going to remain fixated on inflation.
“But with allocations to US stocks at two-decade lows there is the chance of at least a first-half rebound if earnings are overall better than expected.
“With the Nasdaq struggling in recent days it seems investors need a lot more convincing.”
Market participants were primarily focussed on the latest producer price index, which revealed wholesale prices undershot market expectations by a wide margin at the end of 2022.
According to the Department of Labor, final demand prices fell at a seasonally adjusted month-on-month pace of 0.5% in December.
Versus a year ago, final demand prices were ahead by 6.2%.
On another note, US retail sales softened by much more than expected towards the end of 2022.
According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales volumes shrank by 1.1% month-on-month to reach $677.1bn.
Elsewhere on the macro front, industrial output weakened noticeably at the tail-end of 2022 as production of business equipment fell sharply.
According to the Commerce Department, total industrial production dropped in December at a month-on-month pace of 0.7%.
December's drop comes on top of a downwards revision to the prior month's reading from -0.2% to -0.6%.
Still on data, manufacturers' and trade inventories in the US increased by 0.4% month-on-month in November, according to the Census Bureau, following a downwardly revised 0.2% uptick in October, matching market expectations.
Finally, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America revealed mortgage applications surged 27.9% in the week ended 13 January, as interest rates dropped to their lowest level since September.
The National Association of Housebuilders' housing market index meanwhile increased to 35 in January from 31 in December - the first rise in the index since December 2021.
In equities, Charles Schwab was down 2.53% after the banking and financial service group fell short of earnings estimates in the fourth quarter, and revealed profits had slipped from record levels.
Microsoft closed down 1.89% after it confirmed its plans to axe around 10,000 jobs.
United Airlines descended 4.57% despite beating market expectations on fourth quarter earnings and posting an upbeat outlook.
On the upside, JB Hunt Transport Services was ahead 4.95% after the firm announced more than $8.8m would be paid to full-time drivers and hourly-waged maintenance office workers in ‘appreciation bonuses’.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.
Dow Jones - Risers
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $0.00 0.00%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $349.08 -0.24%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $135.21 -0.54%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $183.63 -0.74%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.04 -0.87%
Boeing Co. (BA) $209.41 -0.95%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $56.84 -0.98%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $323.10 -1.17%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $126.43 -1.33%
Dow Jones - Fallers
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $140.33 -3.29%
3M Co. (MMM) $122.75 -3.04%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.81 -3.03%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $136.57 -3.00%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $266.04 -2.94%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $146.41 -2.68%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.81 -2.67%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $140.84 -2.47%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $46.90 -2.45%
American Express Co. (AXP) $150.57 -2.17%
S&P 500 - Risers
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $185.02 4.95%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $58.71 3.04%
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $53.35 1.81%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $122.04 1.46%
Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $112.62 1.30%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $12.96 1.25%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $82.27 1.24%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $500.08 1.11%
ProLogis (PLD) $122.65 1.01%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $316.48 0.92%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $39.66 -6.31%
PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) $152.07 -6.04%
Carmax Inc. (KMX) $63.41 -5.98%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $48.26 -5.11%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $77.17 -4.85%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $2.37 -4.82%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $48.86 -4.57%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $40.60 -4.54%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $47.50 -4.52%
Keycorp (KEY) $17.24 -4.33%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $185.02 4.95%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $58.71 3.04%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $132.17 1.65%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $122.04 1.46%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $82.27 1.24%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $500.08 1.11%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $37.47 0.39%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $98.36 0.35%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $246.80 0.31%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $36.92 0.27%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $39.66 -6.31%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $13.94 -3.86%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $64.57 -3.66%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $125.92 -3.60%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $77.31 -3.58%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $60.99 -3.13%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.81 -2.67%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $16.64 -2.58%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $103.87 -2.52%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $46.90 -2.45%