S&P, Dow dip as Irma approaches US; Disney also weighs

The Dow and the S&P were slightly lower in late morning trading on Thursday as investors kept a close watch on Hurricane Irma, which was barreling toward Florida.

Indexes were also weighed down by a 3.1 per cent fall in Walt Disney shares, after the company said its Marvel and Star Wars titles would go exclusively to its planned streaming service.

Irma plowed past the Dominican Republic on Thursday after devastating a string of Caribbean islands and killing at least 11 people as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida.

"As the hurricane moves, investors are looking for a better grip on the damage that can be done. There are far-reaching implications now that we have back-to-back ones," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas and Louisiana more than a week ago, had claimed 60 lives and caused property damage estimated as high as $180 billion.

Worries about the impact of hurricanes and weak U.S. jobless claims data sent the benchmark 10-year Treasury yields to their lowest since Nov. 10.

What is on investors' minds is that yields continue to move lower. It gives you an indication that people are still a little bit nervous - about North Korea and what the future holds for the (Trump) administration as far as what it is going to accomplish," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.
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Wall Street slips as tensions with North Korea rattle investors

US stock indexes opened lower on Wednesday as investors turned risk averse following rising tensions between North Korea and the United States.

North Korea said it was considering plans to fire missiles at Guam, a US-held Pacific island, after President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned the nuclear-armed nation that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

Safe-haven assets gained following the mounting geopolitical tensions. Gold rose 1.2 percent, while the Swiss franc was on track to post its biggest single day rise in about two-and-a-half years.

Trump's comments also sparked a late afternoon selling on Tuesday, with the Dow ending a nine-day streak of closing records.

The CBOE Volatility Index, the most widely followed barometer of expected near-term stock market volatility, was up 1.03 points at 11.98 points, its highest level in a month.

"The geopolitical tensions have prompted a risk off trade amid investors," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK.

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Dow opens at record high after strong July jobs report

US stocks opened higher on Friday, with the Dow hitting a record high, after data showed US employers hired more workers than expected in July, signaling labour market tightness.

The Labour Department reported showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 209,000 jobs last month, above the 183,000 rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.

June's employment gain number was revised up to 231,000 from the previously reported 222,000.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent after gaining 0.2 percent in June, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent.

The strong jobs report is likely to clear the way for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start shrinking its $4.5 trillion bond portfolio in September, and could strengthen its case to raise rates for the third time this year in December.

Chances of a rate hike by the end of the year increased to 50 percent from 46 percent after the release of the data, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
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S&P, Nasdaq slip as tech weighs; Dow hits record high

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost ground in late morning trading on Thursday as tech stocks slipped, while the Dow moved above the 22,000 mark to hit a new record.

The S&P tech index — which has been the best performer in 2017, with a 23 per cent rise — was down 0.39 per cent.

Apple, Amazon and Microsoft were top drags on the S&P and the Nasdaq.

However, Tesla's 7.20 per cent jump eased some pressure on the tech-heavy index after the luxury electric car maker reported quarterly revenue that more than doubled.

"The tech sector is going through a consolidation phase where people are taking some money away from big names and putting it towards underperformers," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

"I don't see that as a bad thing as it helps broaden out this rally."

Quarterly earnings remain in the spotlight to see if valuations are justified, especially with the S&P 500 trading at around 18 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months, well above its long-term average of 15 times.
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Wall Street go red as tech, consumer discretionary stocks decline

US stocks were slightly lower on Thursday, with the Dow on track for its third straight day of losses, led by declines in consumer discretionary and technology sectors.

Macy's disappointing profit and a 11 per cent slump in shares took a toll on the consumer discretionary sector, which fell 0.52 per cent with all of its components in the red.

Kohl's was down about 2 per cent despite beating profit estimate.

"Retail is front-and-center because it has been a sore area for the market over the last year or two," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer at 50 Park Investments.

At 9:41 am EDT the Dow Jones industrial average was down 40.78 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 20,902.33, the S&P 500 was down 7.72 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 2,391.91 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 21.11 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 6,108.04.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower. Technology was down 0.3 per cent, following losses in Microsoft and Intel.

Shares of Snapchat owner Snap Inc plunged 20 per cent after the company reported a slowdown in user growth and revenue in its first earnings report as a public company.

Straight Path fell 20 per cent after agreeing to be bought by Verizon for $184 per share and terminated an earlier deal with AT&T.

Whole Foods was up 5 per cent after the grocer shook up its board and appointed a new CFO.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,836 to 718. On the Nasdaq, 1,662 issues fell and 606 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed six 52-week highs and six lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 highs and 16 lows.
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