US close: Markets finish lower as tax reform concerns linger
Wall Street finished lower on Wednesday, following the release of stronger-than-expected consumer price inflation and retail sales data for October and amid lingering concerns about the progress being made by the White House on tax reforms.
Dow Jones I.A.
38,239.66
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,718.30
12:15 26/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.59% to 23,271.28, the S&P 500 was off 0.55% at 2,564.62, and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.56% softer at 6,258.36.
“The deterioration in global stocks clearly has a footing in last week's Senate announcement that we may not see a US corporate tax cut until 2019,” said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.
“However, the worst may not be over yet. With Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell hoping to add a repeal of the 'individual mandate' into the bill as a way to undermine Obamacare, the pathway to tax reform just got more complicated.”
On the data front, total US retail sales volumes increased by 0.2% month-on-month in October to reach $486.6bn, against consensus expectations for a 0.1% rise, alongside upwards revisions to data for the previous month.
In parallel, the Department of Labor said that 'core' consumer price gains accelerated to a 1.8% pace year-on-year last month from a 1.7% clip in September.
“The year-on-year rate nudged up to 1.8% from 1.7%; it will remain close to this rate until March, the anniversary of the first of the soft numbers this year,” commented Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“At that point, the year-on-year rate will start to rise rapidly, and will be 2.5%-plus by late summer.
"The three-month annualized rate is now 2.4%, up from a low of zero in May … the "transitory" and "idiosyncratic" factors are fading.”
In corporate news, investors were digesting date showing that Soros Fund Management hived-off large numbers of shares in tech giants Facebook, Apple, Snap and Twitter.
Discount store Target - which is in the throes of a turnaround plan - was also in focus, dropping 9.84% after it posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly same-store sales.
However, weaker-than-expected guidance from the retailer more than offset that good news, sending shares spiraling lower.
Advance Auto Parts was also in the headlines, losing 4.31% having earlier rocketed ahead in the wake of stronger-than-forecast quarterly profits.
Dow Jones - Risers
General Electric Co. (GE) $18.26 2.01%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $56.63 1.29%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $117.57 0.44%
Boeing Co. (BA) $262.91 0.44%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $98.20 0.36%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $133.72 0.31%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.11 0.21%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.81 0.19%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.37 0.17%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $165.46 0.08%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $134.12 -2.50%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $68.97 -2.11%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.22 -2.03%
Visa Inc. (V) $110.27 -1.53%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.11 -1.43%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $169.08 -1.32%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $209.87 -1.31%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $89.83 -1.27%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $82.98 -1.27%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $237.61 -1.11%
S&P 500 - Risers
Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $73.77 6.16%
Macy's Inc. (M) $19.98 3.36%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $15.75 3.14%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $6.66 3.10%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $47.19 3.01%
Amerisource Bergen Corp. (ABC) $77.52 2.82%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $34.45 2.74%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $16.72 2.70%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $42.27 2.65%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $14.78 2.64%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Target Corp. (TGT) $54.16 -10.33%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $17.08 -8.07%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $29.57 -7.85%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.48 -6.76%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $41.68 -5.72%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $25.98 -5.63%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $6.14 -5.62%
Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $61.55 -5.37%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $115.53 -5.18%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $14.78 -4.92%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $15.75 3.14%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $47.19 3.01%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $16.72 2.70%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $28.73 2.50%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $29.04 2.47%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $30.07 2.45%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (FOX) $27.95 2.34%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $62.84 1.93%
Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) $66.60 1.85%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $67.97 1.69%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $108.89 -2.09%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $209.98 -1.96%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $249.19 -1.90%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $192.12 -1.83%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $62.89 -1.78%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $61.60 -1.64%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $89.59 -1.56%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $48.63 -1.56%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $70.94 -1.54%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $169.00 -1.42%