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Wall Street closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors weighed legal worries of President Trump against Fed’s indication of another rate hike in September. Both the Dow and S&P 500 ended in red after a four-day winning streak as Wall Street celebrates its longest ever bull-run which completed 3,453 days on Aug 22. However, Nasdaq Composite closed in the green.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 25,733.60, declining 0.3%. The S&P 500 Index (INX) was down marginally by 1.14 points to close at 2,861.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,889.10, increasing 0.4%. A total of 5.26 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.42 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1.17-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, advancers had an edge over decliners by 1.49-to-1 ratio. The CBOE VIX decreased 4.7% to close at 12.25.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow ended in negative territory with 22 components of the 30-stock blue-chip index closing in the red while eight finished in the green. However, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite continued its winning run for fifth straight trading day buoyed by strong performance of large IT stocks.
The S&P 500 decreased marginally led by a 1% decline in Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) and 0.8% drop in Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU). Notably, seven out of 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red while four ended in the green.
Trump Facing Legal Worries
On Aug 21, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to eight criminal counts. Major charges against him are related to tax fraud, making false statements to a financial institution, and unlawful corporate contributions.
In a separate case, Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager was found guilty on eight counts in the same day. These cases were related to tax fraud, bank fraud and non-filling of foreign bank account reports. These two developments dented investors’ confidence to some extent.
Fed Hints Further Rate Hike
In the Minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting earlier this month, the central bank has indicated widespread support for another interest rate increase in September. Notably, the Fed has already raised benchmark rate two times this year.
Moreover, the Fed officials have unanimously opined that escalation of global trade conflicts could hurt businesses and households. The central bank has stated that lingering global trade disputes are the biggest source of risk and uncertainty to the growing economic prosperity of the United States.
Trade War Fears Persist
At 12.01 a.m. EDT on Aug 23, the U.S. government officially imposed 25% tariffs worth $16 billion on Chinese imports. So far, the Trump administration has levied $50 billion of tariffs on China prompting the Asian economic superpower to retaliate with same amount of tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Moreover, President Trump is considering imposing another round of tariffs worth $200 billion on Chinese goods this week.
Surging Crude oil Prices Lifted Energy Sector
On Aug 22, The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that for the week ended Aug 17, the U.S. crude supplies fell by 5.8 million barrels. Just a day ago, the American Petroleum Institute reported a decline of 5.2 million barrels for the same week.
Consequently, West Texas Intermediate oil for October delivery was up $2.02 or 3.1%, to $67.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest close since Aug 7. October Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose $2.15 or 3% to $74.78 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange marking its highest since Jul 30.
Soaring crude prices have a positive effect on energy stocks. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) also gained 1.2%. Share price of Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO - Free Report) , Noble Energy Inc. and Devon Energy Corp. (DVN - Free Report) were up 3.3%, 3.9% and 2.1%, respectively. Each of these three stocks carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
On Aug 22, the National Association of Realtors reported that Existing-home sales came in at seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million in July lagging the consensus estimate of 5.43 million and down 0.7% from the previous month.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL - Free Report) recently announced the latest version of Aquanomic 2.0 Low-Temp Solid Laundry Program, which improves laundry operations at hotels. (Read More)
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
Image: Bigstock
Stock Market News For Aug 23, 2018
Wall Street closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors weighed legal worries of President Trump against Fed’s indication of another rate hike in September. Both the Dow and S&P 500 ended in red after a four-day winning streak as Wall Street celebrates its longest ever bull-run which completed 3,453 days on Aug 22. However, Nasdaq Composite closed in the green.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 25,733.60, declining 0.3%. The S&P 500 Index (INX) was down marginally by 1.14 points to close at 2,861.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,889.10, increasing 0.4%. A total of 5.26 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.42 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1.17-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, advancers had an edge over decliners by 1.49-to-1 ratio. The CBOE VIX decreased 4.7% to close at 12.25.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow ended in negative territory with 22 components of the 30-stock blue-chip index closing in the red while eight finished in the green. However, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite continued its winning run for fifth straight trading day buoyed by strong performance of large IT stocks.
The S&P 500 decreased marginally led by a 1% decline in Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) and 0.8% drop in Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU). Notably, seven out of 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red while four ended in the green.
Trump Facing Legal Worries
On Aug 21, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to eight criminal counts. Major charges against him are related to tax fraud, making false statements to a financial institution, and unlawful corporate contributions.
In a separate case, Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager was found guilty on eight counts in the same day. These cases were related to tax fraud, bank fraud and non-filling of foreign bank account reports. These two developments dented investors’ confidence to some extent.
Fed Hints Further Rate Hike
In the Minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting earlier this month, the central bank has indicated widespread support for another interest rate increase in September. Notably, the Fed has already raised benchmark rate two times this year.
Moreover, the Fed officials have unanimously opined that escalation of global trade conflicts could hurt businesses and households. The central bank has stated that lingering global trade disputes are the biggest source of risk and uncertainty to the growing economic prosperity of the United States.
Trade War Fears Persist
At 12.01 a.m. EDT on Aug 23, the U.S. government officially imposed 25% tariffs worth $16 billion on Chinese imports. So far, the Trump administration has levied $50 billion of tariffs on China prompting the Asian economic superpower to retaliate with same amount of tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Moreover, President Trump is considering imposing another round of tariffs worth $200 billion on Chinese goods this week.
Surging Crude oil Prices Lifted Energy Sector
On Aug 22, The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that for the week ended Aug 17, the U.S. crude supplies fell by 5.8 million barrels. Just a day ago, the American Petroleum Institute reported a decline of 5.2 million barrels for the same week.
Consequently, West Texas Intermediate oil for October delivery was up $2.02 or 3.1%, to $67.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest close since Aug 7. October Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose $2.15 or 3% to $74.78 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange marking its highest since Jul 30.
Soaring crude prices have a positive effect on energy stocks. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) also gained 1.2%. Share price of Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO - Free Report) , Noble Energy Inc. and Devon Energy Corp. (DVN - Free Report) were up 3.3%, 3.9% and 2.1%, respectively. Each of these three stocks carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
On Aug 22, the National Association of Realtors reported that Existing-home sales came in at seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million in July lagging the consensus estimate of 5.43 million and down 0.7% from the previous month.
Stocks That Made Headline
Ecolab's New Aquanomic Enhances Laundry Operations at Hotels
Ecolab Inc. (ECL - Free Report) recently announced the latest version of Aquanomic 2.0 Low-Temp Solid Laundry Program, which improves laundry operations at hotels. (Read More)
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>