US Markets 18 Oct: Dow Jones and S&P 500 Slide, Nasdaq Takes a Hit as Yields Soar
US Markets LIVE 18 Oct 2023: The US stock market indexes opened lower on Wednesday, as investors assessed more quarterly earnings from prominent companies and monitored the escalated tension in the Middle East.
Dow Jones opened lower by 37.4 points at the 33960.25 level, while the S&P 500 made a negative opening of 15.85 points at the 4357.35 level. The Nasdaq Composite index made a lower opening of 94.07 points at the 13439.68 level.
US Markets LIVE Today
At 11.40 AM EDT, The key US stock market indexes extended their early losses on Wednesday. Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading lower by 173.93 points or 0.51 percent at the 33823.72 level, while the S&P 500 is also trading lower by 32.10 points or 0.73 percent at the 4341.10 level. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also extended its early losses and is trading lower by 106.97 points or 0.79 percent at 13426.77 levels.
US Stock Market News
US stock markets are trading lower ahead of the quarterly results from big corporates Netflix and Tesla, which are due after market closing on Wednesday. Earlier, prominent companies like Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, and Travellers reported their quarterly earnings before the opening bell. The share price of Morgan Stanley declined more than 6% as the bank posted a drop in quarterly net income due to the weak performance of the bank’s wealth management division.
However, Procter & Gamble and Travellers are trading higher by over 2% after beating analyst’s expectations for the quarter. The shares of JB Hunt transport services lost around 8% due to worse-than-expected quarterly earnings
The shares of United Airlines tanked more than 8% after the company said the higher cost of jet fuel and a halt to the carrier’s Tel Aviv flights during the Israel-Hamas war would significantly reduce its profits in the last quarter of the year.
Chip stocks are struggling for the second consecutive session, Nvidia is down by over 3%. Investors continued selling off the chip stocks after the US government announced the plan to tighten the restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to China on Tuesday. The other chip-related stocks Advanced Micro Device, Marvell Technology, and Intell are trading lower between 1.4% to 2.5%
On the economic front, September’s Housing starts picked up albeit at a slower-than-expected pace, while building permits fell, but by less than expected.
The 10-year Treasury yield after hitting a day high at 4.931% is now trading at 4.902%, the yield closed at 4.834% in the previous session.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices are trading higher on Wednesday after a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds. This has escalated further tension in the Middle East. The news has surged the crude oil prices, as investors worried other oil-producing countries could get pulled into the conflicts.
Earlier, the crude prices got boosted late Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute showed the data that US inventories fell sharply in the week to October 13.
The US WTI crude is trading higher by 1.85% at $87.02 per barrel while London-based Brent crude oil is higher by 1.48% at $91.22 per barrel.
US Markets at Close
US stock market indexes extended their early losses and closed sharply lower on Wednesday, as the long-term Treasury yields climbed to a fresh 16-year high above 4.9% and investors assessed more quarterly earnings. Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell 0.93 percent and 1.34 percent respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 1.62 percent at the close.
Also, read- US Futures 18 Oct: Dow and Nasdaq Inch Down as Earnings Heat Up
Trade Setup: Top News Ahead of Market Opening on October 18, 2023
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