Drop in Apple shares due to weak iPhone X demand drags Wall Street lower

Wall Street's main indexes came under pressure on Tuesday following a 2.8 per cent drop in Apple's shares on a report of weak iPhone X demand.

Apple will slash its sales forecast for its flagship phone in the current quarter to 30 million units, down from what it said was an initial plan of 50 million units, Taiwan's Economic Daily reported, citing unidentified sources.

That, along with some bearish brokerage calls on iPhone X demand, put its shares on track for their worst single-day percentage fall since Aug. 10.

Shares of companies that supply parts to Apple, including Broadcom, Skyworks Solutions, Finisar and Lumentum Holdings, fell between 1.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent.

The S&P technology index fell 0.9 per cent, the only loser among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.

Most markets around the world, including parts of Europe and Asia, were shut on Tuesday. Trading volumes are also expected to be light in the holiday week.

"It's going to be slow trading for most of the week. A market that's going to stay within a trading range, we could have a plus or a negative day, but nothing exciting," said Peter Cardillo, the chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

At 9:34 a.m. ET (1434 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 8.32 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 24,745.74 and the S&P 500 was down 2.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 2,680.94.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 29.11 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 6,930.86.

Sucampo Pharma surged 6 per cent after Mallinckrodt said it would acquire the drugmaker for $1.2 billion, to gain access to its constipation drug Amitiza. Mallinckrodt shares rose 4.3 per cent.
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S&P, Dow move higher as bank stocks climb again

The S&P 500 and the Dow indexes rose in morning trading on Wednesday as bank stocks added to gains following strong economic data and encouraging comments from Federal Reserve officials that sealed the case for a December rate increase.
JPMorgan climbed 1.9 percent and Bank of America rose 2.2 percent, making the S&P financial index the biggest gainer among S&P 500 sectors.

Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the case for a December rate hike was coming together and also hinted at lighter bank regulation, while Fed chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that a strengthening economy will warrant continued rate increases.

"Economic data has been very strong and the economy looks as good now as it ever has," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

The second revision of third-quarter gross domestic product showed growth increased at a 3.3 annual rate, up from the previously reported 3 percent.

The Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy, rose 1.4 percent in the third quarter, in line with the forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

Investors are keeping a keen eye on progress on US tax bill. Senate Republicans on Tuesday rammed forward the bill, which corporate America is hoping will slash business tax rates, in an abrupt, partisan committee vote that set up a full vote by the Senate as soon as Thursday.
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Technology stocks boost Nasdaq to record high

Wall Street indexes opened higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq hitting a record high, led by gains in technology stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 23,524.39. The S&P 500 gained 8.57 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,590.71. The Nasdaq Composite added 30.99 points, or 0.46 percent, to 6,821.71.
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Wall Street slips amid tax reform uncertainty, General Electric losses

US stocks were lower in morning trading on Monday as uncertainty over a US tax reform deal and GE's dismal outlook hit investor sentiment.

General Electric fell 3.5 percent after the industrial conglomerate cut its 2018 profit forecast, slashed dividend and unveiled a restructuring plan. The stock weighed the most on the S&P 500 index.

The S&P and the Dow ended the week lower for the first time in nine weeks on Friday after Senate Republicans unveiled a new tax plan that differed from the House of Representatives' version.

Hopes of lower taxes, one of President Donald Trump's main campaign promises, have helped drive the S&P 500 up 20 percent since the 2016 presidential election.

"We're entering a period of uncertainty until the tax bill is either passed or till we have more details," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

"Any disappointment on corporate tax deductions will probably set the stage for the market to pull back."

With third-quarter earnings season on its last leg, investors are closely tracking developments around the tax bill as well as economic data to make their bets.
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Technology stocks boost Wall Street to hit fresh records

Major Wall Street indexes hit fresh records at the open on Monday on gains in financial and technology stocks even as investors awaited a barrage of earnings reports this week.

Apple gained 1.05 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P after KeyBanc upgraded the stock to "overweight".

Financial stocks gained for the first time in four days, led by bank stocks. Reactions to bank results last week were muted on concerns about credit card losses at JPMorgan and Citigroup and weak trading activity across the sector.

Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley report before markets open on Tuesday. Insurer Travelers jumped 2 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Dow.

Video-streaming pioneer Netflix reports third-quarter results after market.

"The market still wants to be optimistic, it wants to continue to move higher from here," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
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Wall Street drops as CPI data boosts December rate hike odds

Wall Street's three major indexes opened lower on Thursday, shying away from their record high closes, as an uptick in consumer prices inflation boosted the odds of another interest rate hike this year.

A Labour Department report showed consumer price index (CPI) rose more than expected last month and the gain was the largest in seven months, lifting the year-on-year increase to 1.9 percent from 1.7 percent in July.

Despite the uptick, both CPI and personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, remain stuck below the central bank's 2-percent target.

"I don't think they should raise rates in December, but they will, in order to counteract any kind of slowdown in the overall economy," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.

After the data was released, the odds of a hike in December rose to top 50 percent for the first time since July, from 41.3 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The CPI data is the last to be released before the Fed's Sept. 19-20 policy meeting, where it is expected to outline a program to start offloading its $4.2 trillion balance sheet.
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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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Wall Street flat as oil offsets gains in tech, healthcare

US stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with the three major indexes on track to end the month higher, as gains in healthcare and technology were outweighed by a drop in energy shares due to a steep fall in oil prices.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite looked set to post their best monthly percentage gain since February. The Nasdaq also hit a record intraday high in early trading.

Oil prices fell by more than 2 per cent to a three-week low, as rising Libyan production fueled concerns that OPEC-led output cuts are being undermined by several countries that are excluded from the deal.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snapped their seven-day winning streak on Tuesday as weakness in the energy and financial sectors outweighed gains in technology shares.

With stocks at record levels and the earnings season in the rear-view mirror, analysts say investors need to see strong economic data and progress on President Donald Trump's pro-business policies for further meaningful gains.

"We had the Memorial day weekend and volumes on Tuesday were low, so this is the first day that Wall Street is coming back in full force and we could see a resumption of strong equity buying that we saw last week," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

At 9:41 a.m. ET (1341 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.23 points, or 0.01 percent, at 21,028.24, the S&P 500 was up 1.97 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,414.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 10.98 points, or 0.18 percent, at 6,214.17.

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the healthcare index's 0.48 percent rise leading the advancers.

Johnson and Johnson was up 0.67 percent and provided the biggest boost to the S&P and the Dow.

While first-quarter economic data was mixed, with dips in consumer spending and sentiment, continuing strength in the labor market suggests economic activity will regain momentum as the year progresses.

The Federal Reserve issues its Beige Book at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), a compendium of anecdotes on the health of the economy, that will likely provide further evidence that the economy continues to strengthen giving the Federal Reserve impetus to raise rate next month.

Traders currently see an 86.6-percent chance of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Shares of Michael Kors fell 8.9 percent to $33 after the luxury fashion retailer gave a bleak full-year forecast and said it would shut more than 100 full-price retail stores in the next two years.

Mallinckrodt was up 0.6 percent at $43.94, after sources said the drugmaker is exploring a sale of its generic drug unit, in a deal that could fetch as much as $2 billion.

Analog Devices rose 4.7 percent to $88.75 after the chipmaker's quarterly results came in above expectations.

Exact Sciences was up 9.3 percent at $35.58 after two brokerages raised their price target on the diagnostic test maker's shares.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,371 to 1,186, for a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the upside. On the Nasdaq, 1,221 issues rose and 1,007 fell for a 1.21-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 index showed 28 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 82 new highs and 70 new lows.
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Wall Street opens higher after $110 bn arms deal between US, Saudi Arabia

Wall Street opened higher on Monday as oil prices climbed and defense stocks rose following a $110 billion arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.81 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 20,879.65.

The S&P 500 gained 6.99 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,388.72.

The Nasdaq Composite added 17.51 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 6,101.21.
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US stocks suffered $8.9 bn outflow as Trump stirs trouble in White House

Investors ditched almost $9 billion of US equities as political turmoil in Washington built up in the past week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch figures showed on Friday.

Funds invested in US equities saw outflows of $8.9 billion in the week to Wednesday- their third straight week of outflows -- while those dedicated to European stocks added $1.1 billion, the largest in 39 weeks and the ninth straight week of inflows.

"Washington DC disruption: new risk ... Washington political malaise causes capital flight from US," BAML summarised, referring to White House battles over the struggles over alleged links to Russia and to the removal of the FBI director.

The big winner for the week, meanwhile, were global tech stocks, now enjoying the biggest annualised inflows since the dot-com bubble.

Tech stocks raked in $1 billion in the week to Wednesday in their 11th straight week of inflows, BAML said in its regular 'Flow Show' analysis.

It also noted that the Nasdaq internet index, a modified market capitalisation-weighted index designed to track the largest and most liquid US online firms, was running at an annual rate of 75 per cent gains year to date.

It expressed some concern about this.

"(The) longer it takes the economy and yields to pick-up, greater (the) risk of tech mania," BAML said.

Investors also remained in emerging markets, with equities adding $3.9 billion in a ninth week of gains while developing market debt saw inflows of $1.6 billion in their 16th straight positive week.

"Emerging markets equal year-to-date flow winner and year-to-date return winner as weaker dollar, lower yields overwhelm China credit fears," BAML said in its note.

The data, however, was collected before a broad sell of roiled emerging markets on Thursday following allegations that Brazil's President Michel Temer condoned bribes to silence a key witness in a corruption probe.

Overall, bond funds attracted $9.7 billion of inflows in the week to Wednesday, with around two thirds of that ($6.6 billion) going into investment grade funds, BAML said.
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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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