In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, China’s Shanghai Composite was higher at 3017.29 for a gain of 10.90 points or 0.36 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was lower at 15378.99 for a loss of -290.34 points or -1.85 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was lower at 20495.29 for a loss of -255.43 points or -1.23 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex was lower at 27166.87 for a loss of -111.89 points or -0.41 percent. Stocks in Europe were lower. The FTSE 100 was lower at 6499.88 for a loss of -45.49 points or -0.69 percent. Germany’s DAX was lower at 9340.00 for a loss of -192.61 points or -2.02 percent. France’s CAC 40 was lower at 4075.97 for a loss of -87.45 points or -2.10 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was lower at 319.25 for a loss of -4.92 points or -1.52 percent.
Wednesday’s Factors and Events
A number of reports are on the economic calendar for Wednesday with the Federal Reserve’s FOMC Minutes the leading report for the day. Also on the calendar for Wednesday is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Applications report, International Trade, the PMI Services Index and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index. During the day, Federal Reserve officials, William Dudley and Daniel Tarullo will also be speaking.
Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include Newmont Mining, Berkshire Hathaway, Alcoa, Carnival, MasterCard, Netflix, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon.
Earnings reports on the calendar for Wednesday and Thursday include the following: The Greenbrier Companies, Inc., MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc., SuperCom, Ltd., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., Cogeco Communications Inc., Emmis Communications Corporation, Northern Technologies International Corporation, PepsiCo Inc., Sandvine Corp., Apollo Education Group, Inc., Barracuda Networks, Inc., Helen of Troy Limited, Luby’s, Inc. and PriceSmart, Inc.
There is a negative sentiment in the U.S. pre-market trading as stocks are likely to trade lower for the day Wednesday following losses on Tuesday. Stock valuations appear to be trading flat as concerns over lower government yields globally are affecting stocks. The Bank of England is likely to reduce its central bank rate even further in the near-term which could further affect yields as the U.K. exit from the European Union is increasing the risk of a recession.
Tuesday’s Activity
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks were lower. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17840.62 for a loss of -108.75 points or -0.61 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2088.55 for a loss of -14.40 points or -0.68 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4822.90 for a loss of -39.67 points or -0.82 percent.
Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.
Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, lower at 1139.44 for a loss of -17.33 points or -1.5 percent; the S&P 600 closing at 700.06 for a loss of -10.11 points or -1.42 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1482.28 for a loss of -17.92 points or -1.19 percent; the S&P 100 closing at 924.70 for a loss of -4.98 points or -0.54 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1229.75 for a loss of -9.77 points or -0.79 percent; the Russell 1000 closing at 1155.60 for a loss of -8.52 points or -0.73 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 608.86 for a loss of -3.50 points or -0.57 percent.
