All ten sectors ended lower led by energy sector
The U.S. stock market ended substantially lower on Monday, 13 October 2014 amid a volatile session as selling intensified at the last hour. The stock market began the new week on a defensive note despite showing some intraday strength. Equity indices slumped in the early going amid weakness in groups that pressured the market last week. Volatile trading came on the heels of last week's deep losses that had been triggered by global economic growth concerns. There was no data on the economic calendar and bond markets were closed for Columbus Day holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 223 points, or 1.3%, to 16,321.07. The blue-chip index turned negative for the year on Friday and is now down 1.5% year-to-date. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 62.58 points, or 1.5%, to 4,213.66. The S&P 500 closed down 31.39 points, or 1.6%, to 1,874.74.
All ten sectors ended lower led by energy sector.
Although energy pressured the market from the get go, the top-weighted sectortechnologyshowed some signs of strength. Specifically, chipmakers endured a volatile session. For its part, the tech sector ended ahead of the broader market.
On Tuesday, earnings season will get under way in earnest with major banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup among those due to report.
The U.S. government and U.S. Treasury markets were closed for the Columbus Day holiday on Monday. There were also no major U.S. economic reports due for release. That made for a bit more subdued market place.
There was upbeat economic data coming out of China on Monday. Import prices rose 7% in September, while exports were up 15% in the period. This is good news for raw commodity market bulls, as China is the world's largest importer of raw commodities.
The U.S. dollar index was solidly lower on Monday, as the greenback bulls are fading a bit after pushing prices to a four-year high last week.
Bullion prices ended the U.S. day session moderately higher on Monday, 13 October 2014 at Comex and gold hit a four-week high. More safe-haven demand was featured amid the recent U.S. stock market sell-off. Gold prices caught an updraft on Monday, rallying nicely as traders headed toward the equity exits to kick off a heavy week of corporate earnings.
Gold for December delivery was up $12.90, or 1%, at $1,234.40 an ounce. Gold ended last week in the red despite a general move away from equities. It was dute to the weakness on the stronger dollar which continues to dog gold prices. The greenback finished lower ground for the week, though. That's the first time that's happened in three months. December silver fared even better rallying 18 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.49 an ounce.
Crude-oil futures ended sharply lower on Monday, 13 October 2014 at Nymex extending their slide from last week as positive Chinese trade data and an increase in September crude imports failed to bolster global oil prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $84.46 a barrel, down $1.36. November Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $1.43 to $88.78 a barrel.
Tomorrow's session is also expected to remain quiet on economic front.
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