Category: Stock Market News

Oil prices lost more ground in the wake of the latest Energy Information Administration data Wednesday, which revealed a second straight weekly rise in U.S. crude supplies. The increase, however, nearly matched market expectations and came in at less than half the increase reported by trade group the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. Still, the EIA’s total domestic crude production figure hit a fresh weekly record at 10.369 million barrels a day for last week. April WTI crude dropped $1.71, or 2.7%, to trade at $60.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks fell broadly on Wednesday, in the first trading session after top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned. The day’s losses were widespread, with 10 of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors down on the day. Leading the move lower was energy, which sank 1.5% and fell alongside a 2.6% drop in the price of crude oil. Cohn’s resignation was seen as a negative as it suggests President Donald Trump will push forward on tariffs and on steel and aluminum imports that the key adviser has opposed. Equities have recently come under heavy volatility on concerns over tariffs and a potential retaliation by trade partners. Industrial and material stocks both fell by 1.1% on Wednesday; the two are seen as having an outsize impact from tariffs. The financial, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples sectors all fell sharply on the day as well. The only positive group was real estate, which rose 0.2% on the day. The sector is sometimes viewed as a defensive play given the higher dividend yields of its components. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4% while the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.7%. The Russell 2000 rose 0.2%; it is seen as having less correlation to trade issues given the U.S. focus of its components.

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From:: Stock Market News

Although the Big 3 market indexes are all falling, market breadth data is very mixed, with the NYSE’s data looking bearish and the Nasdaq data looking bullish. The number of declining stocks outnumbered advancers 1,471 to 1,267 on the NYSE, but advancers topped decliners 1,527 to 1,069 on the Nasdaq. And the volume of declining stocks was 64.4% of total volume on the NYSE while the majority of volume on the Nasdaq, 55.7%, was in advancing stocks. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 165 points, or 0.7%; the S&P 500 shed 0.4%; and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%, while the Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks was up 0.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday issued a public statement warning that there are potentially unlawful online platforms for trading digital assets, notably the coins and tokens offered and sold in initial coin offerings. “If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an ‘exchange,’ as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration,” the SEC said. A national securities exchange or one that operates under an exemption must have rules designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, the SEC said.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil prices pared some of their losses Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies rose by 2.4 million barrels for the week ended March 2. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had forecast a climb of 2.5 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a rise of 5.7 million barrels, according to sources. Gasoline stockpiles fell by 800,000 barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles decreased by 600,000 barrels, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast supply declines of 500,000 barrels for gasoline and 1.6 million barrels for distillates. April crude fell 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $62.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from $61.85 before the supply data.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Bank of Canada warned on the impact of trade policy on global and Canadian growth in its monetary-policy statement on Wednesday, when the central bank also left its overnight interest rate unchanged. Market participants had expected the benchmark rate to be kept at 1.25%. The BOC cited the current global growth momentum as positive, and said that Canadian inflation was close to target while wage growth firmed. “However, trade policy developments are an important and growing source of uncertainty for the global and Canadian outlooks,” the BOC said in its updated policy statement. Canada looks to be hit the hardest by the anticipated U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are expected to be announced formally later this week. Analysts expect at least one more interest rate increase from the BOC this year, following a hike in January. “While the economic outlook is expected to warrant higher interest rates over time, some continued monetary policy accommodation will likely be needed to keep the economy operating close to potential and inflation on target,” according to the statement. The BOC will also continue to monitor the economy’s sensitivity to higher rates, especially has household credit decelerated over the past three months. The BOC will next meet on April 18. One U.S. dollar last bought C$1.2940 , up 0.5%, close to its highest level since July 2017.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Bank of Canada warned on the impact of trade policy on global and Canadian growth in its monetary-policy statement on Wednesday, when the central bank also left its overnight interest rate unchanged. Market participants had expected the benchmark rate to be kept at 1.25%. The BOC cited the current global growth momentum as positive, and said that Canadian inflation was close to target while wage growth firmed. “However, trade policy developments are an important and growing source of uncertainty for the global and Canadian outlooks,” the BOC said in its updated policy statement. Canada looks to be hit the hardest by the anticipated U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are expected to be announced formally later this week. Analysts expect at least one more interest rate increase from the BOC this year, following a hike in January. “While the economic outlook is expected to warrant higher interest rates over time, some continued monetary policy accommodation will likely be needed to keep the economy operating close to potential and inflation on target,” according to the statement. The BOC will also continue to monitor the economy’s sensitivity to higher rates, especially has household credit decelerated over the past three months. The BOC will next meet on April 18. One U.S. dollar last bought C$1.2940 , up 0.5%, close to its highest level since July 2017.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average early Wednesday gave up its year-to-date gains, before fighting back to positive for the year, as Wall Street wrestled with news that National Economic Adviser Gary Cohn has resigned from the White House. Market participants fear that Cohn’s departure suggests that President Donald Trump will push forward on tariffs and on steel and aluminum imports that the key adviser has opposed. Moreover, Cohn was viewed as a chief engineer of the president’s pro-business agenda. The Dow was down 212 points, or 0.9%, at 24,666, and was down by as many as 312 points, pushing into down 0.7% in the first three months of the year. It was most recently off by about 0.2% for 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6% at 2,712, hanging on to a 1.5% year-to-date return, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.4% at 7,341, maintaining a 2018 rise of 6.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. slipped 0.3% in morning trade Wednesday, but with Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s stock underperforming with a 0.6% decline, Alphabet’s market-capitalization lead over third-place Amazon has been cut to just $18.5 billion, $760.7 billion to $742.2 billion. At the end of 2017, Amazon’s $566.2 billion market-cap was about $165.6 billion behind second-place Alphabet’s at $731.8 billion. Amazon’s stock has soared 31.1% year to date while Alphabet’s has gained 3.9%, compared with a 7.4% rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 this year and a 0.2% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Amazon has widened its lead over fourth-place Microsoft Corp. , which is worth $715.2 billion, but is still way behind first-place Apple Inc. , which is at $887.9 billion.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average early Wednesday briefly gave up its year-to-date gains, before fighting back to positive for the year, as Wall Street wrestled with news that National Economic Adviser Gary Cohn has resigned from the White House. Market participants fear that Cohn’s departure suggests that President Donald Trump will push forward on tariffs and on steel and aluminum imports that the key adviser has opposed. Moreover, Cohn was viewed as a chief engineer of the president’s pro-business agenda. The Dow was down 150 points, or 0.6%, at 24,736, and was down by as many as 312 points, pushing into down 0.7% in the first three months of 2018. It was most recently up about 0.1% for 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was off 0.6% at 2,712, hanging on to a 1.5% year-to-date return, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.4% at 7,341, maintaining a 2018 rise of 6.4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News