ZCZC
BCN-14
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks retreat, oil shares hit
NEW YORK, June 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks sagged for a second
straight session Wednesday, with petroleum-linked shares sinking with oil
prices and banks falling on worries over economic growth.
Analysts said ongoing trade tensions between the US and China continued to
weigh on sentiment, as did another decline in the yield in the 10-year US
Treasury note, seen as an indicator of future economic strength.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2 percent to finish the session at
26,006.83.
The broad-based S&P 500 also lost 0.2 percent to close at 2,879.84, while
the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.4 percent to 7,792.72.
“The market is concerned about the US economic growth, global growth, and
the tariffs issue,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist of Prudential
Financial.
She said investors are also somewhat less hopeful that the Federal Reserve
will cut interest rates soon, after the US withdrew a plan to impose tariffs
on Mexico.
Fresh economic data continued to show anemic pricing pressures. The
Consumer Price Index — which tracks costs for household goods and services –
– rose a token 0.1 percent last month compared to April, while the annual
rate remains below the Fed’s two percent target, the Labor Department
reported.
Among individual companies, Facebook dropped 1.7 percent after the Wall
Street Journal reported that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was linked in
emails to potentially problematic privacy practices.
Petroleum producers Marathon Oil and Apache each lost around three percent
following a bearish US oil inventory report. Oil services companies also were
weak, with Halliburton shedding 4.5 percent and Transocean 6.9 percent.
Large banks underperformed as well, with Goldman Sachs losing 2.3 percent
and Citigroup 1.6 percent as Treasury yields declined.
BSS/AFP/HR/1112