US close: Stocks finish weaker as oil prices continue to fall
US stocks finished sharply lower on Tuesday, as the week's historic oil sell-off showed no signs of slowing down.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 2.67% at 23,018.88, the S&P 500 lost 3.07% to 2,736.56, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.48% weaker at 8,263.23.
At the open, the Dow had lost 401 points following a near 600-point drop in the previous session, as a sharp decline in US crude oil prices raised questions about just how deep the quarter's economic slowdown will be.
Market participants remained focussed on the strange happenings with oil once again on Tuesday after May contracts for oil futures fell to a negative price - meaning producers would actually pay for someone to take the oil from them.
June futures for West Texas Intermediate were last down 55.24% at $13.16 per barrel.
Donald Trump told the Secretaries of Energy and Treasury to put together a plan aimed at making financial relief available to US oil and gas developers in order to secure the future of the "very important companies and jobs".
“Oil's rout continues to command all the attention in global markets, as investors move on from the Covid-19 crisis to the complete breakdown of normality in one of the world economy’s most vital components,” said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“While the May contract is now banished to the history books, it looks like the June contract is going the same way, falling below $20 and then taking out $19 and $18 in short order for WTI, while Brent crude has met the same fate.”
Beauchamp said markets were finally playing catch-up to the reality on the ground in the oil market, being huge oversupply and non-existent demand, combined with nearly-full storage facilities, driving complete dislocation in the crude oil market.
“And this is being felt in stock markets too, which could not long remain indifferent to the chaos.”
Also weighing on sentiment was news that the US Senate had failed to reach a deal on a second stimulus package aimed at saving the economy and health care system that has been ravaged by the global pandemic.
On the macro front, US home sales dropped more in March than they had in nearly four-and-a-half years as extraordinary measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 brought buyer traffic to a virtual standstill.
The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales tumbled 8.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.27 million units last month.
In the corporate space, IBM shares were down 3.03% after the tech giant posted a 3.4% hit to revenues in the first quarter.
Coca-Cola lost 2.47% after warning of a "material" second-quarter impact as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, while shares in tobacco giant Philip Morris International were down 5.96% after the group withdrew its full-year 2020 guidance due to the outbreak.
Netflix closed down 0.84%, but added 0.13% in after-hours trading after blowing new subscriber expectations out of the water in its first quarter, in an earnings release after the closing bell.
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $101.78 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $129.21 -0.49%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $40.96 -0.53%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.55 -0.70%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $119.68 -0.76%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.62 -1.27%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $149.68 -1.31%
3M Co. (MMM) $141.63 -1.42%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $100.54 -1.68%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $78.56 -5.46%
Boeing Co. (BA) $136.33 -5.07%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $56.36 -4.77%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $40.55 -4.68%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $109.85 -4.14%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $167.82 -4.14%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $173.81 -3.65%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $62.65 -3.59%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $268.37 -3.09%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $85.20 -3.07%
S&P 500 - Risers
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $18.50 4.88%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $40.65 4.31%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $130.02 3.36%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $73.47 3.07%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $63.32 2.48%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $50.06 2.27%
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $148.18 1.76%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $31.40 1.75%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $22.76 1.74%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $26.58 1.37%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $101.18 -9.94%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $243.63 -8.66%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $7.41 -7.61%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $150.56 -7.50%
Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $19.93 -7.26%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $52.92 -7.11%
Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR) $104.10 -7.09%
Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $144.68 -6.89%
Pentair plc (PNR) $29.25 -6.73%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $27.13 -6.48%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $125.73 0.30%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $79.90 0.16%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $37.61 -0.08%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.00 -0.54%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.55 -0.70%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $433.83 -0.84%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $99.88 -1.00%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $65.72 -1.17%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $243.63 -8.66%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $686.72 -7.99%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $7.01 -7.82%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $140.15 -7.12%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $269.51 -6.11%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $91.76 -5.64%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $249.15 -5.63%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $148.59 -4.93%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,342.22 -4.92%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $187.26 -4.80%