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US stocks fall, ending three-day winning streak
NEW YORK, Aug 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks fell Tuesday,
snapping a three-session winning streak amid lingering unease over global
growth and the US-China trade war.
Stocks were in the red most of the day, but slid further after US
President Donald Trump once again said he was not ready to reach a trade deal
with China.
Analysts also cited a drop in the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note,
which is seen as a proxy for confidence in medium-term economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7 percent to end at 25,962.44.
The broad-based S&P 500 slid 0.8 percent to close at 2,900.51, while the
tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.7 percent to 7,948.56.
Stocks ended near session lows, but analysts have said low trading volumes
in August can exacerbate market moves.
Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist for Prudential Financial, said the
pullback was unsurprising after US stocks gained more than one percent on
Monday.
She said investors were concerned about the Federal Reserve release on
Wednesday of the minutes from the July 30-31 policy meeting when the US
central bank cut the benchmark interest rate but Fed Chair Jerome Powell
offered confusing signals about whether to expect additional rate cuts in
2019.
“The market clearly is pricing in a 25 point cut at the next Fed meeting,”
Krosby said.
“I wouldn’t put that much on tomorrow’s minutes, but in a market that is
concerned about growth and trade, the effective trend on corporate spending
and ultimately hiring, any information that the market doesn’t have now will
be important.”
Among individual companies, Home Depot jumped 4.4 percent after it
reported better-than-expected second-quarter profits. But the home-
improvement retailer lowered its full-year sales estimate due to lower lumber
prices as well as the potential hit to consumers from a new round of US
tariffs on Chinese goods.
Kohl’s, another retailer, sank 6.9 percent as it reported a 2.9 percent
drop in comparable sales in the second quarter.
BSS/AFP/HR/1210