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US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks end lower after Iran tanker seizure
NEW YORK, July 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished a down
week on a tepid note, falling after news of a tanker attack in the Middle
East even as Boeing and oil-linked shares rallied.
Stocks had been in positive territory through early afternoon, but fell
decisively as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced they had confiscated a
British tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz — a move that prompted
swift criticism from the United States and Britain.
The fall also roughly coincided with a Wall Street Journal report that the
Federal Reserve is targeting a 25-basis point interest rate cut, rather than
the larger 50-basis point cut that investors have thought might also be
enacted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.3 percent lower at 27,154.20.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 percent to 2,976.61, while the tech-rich
Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.7 percent to 8,146.49.
The losses closed out a down week following the first group of major
earnings reports with two more big weeks yet to come.
Companies have generally exceeded modest expectations but some have
expressed caution due to doubts about growth and US trade conflicts.
“The earnings season so far has been pretty much as expected, which is
less than great,” said Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors, adding that the
outlook was not “terribly good.”
Microsoft climbed 0.2 percent after its report, while American Express
dropped 2.8 percent.
Large technology shares were generally under pressure, with Apple, Google
parent Alphabet and Facebook all losing more than one percent.
But oil-linked shares bounced along with oil prices, with Apache winning
3.1 percent and Marathon Oil 2.1 percent.
Boeing had a big day, surging 4.5 percent despite announcing some $6.6
billion in new costs tied to the grounding of the 737 MAX planes.
Analysts said investors were encouraged that Boeing is still targeting the
fourth quarter of 2019 as a return date for the MAX instead of early 2020 as
had been feared.
Also, Boeing did not further cut its production level of 737 MAX aircraft,
another worry investors had had ahead of the report.
BSS/AFP/HR/1000