Pfizer and American Express Company lead the losses among Dow components
U.S. stock market fell sharply on Monday, 07 April 2014 as heavy selling continued to spill over the broader market. With Monday's session light on economic data, investors looked ahead to the start of first-quarter earnings season, and some traders were downbeat about the coming reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 166.84 points, or 1.3%, to 16,245.87. The Nasdaq Composite fell 47.97 points, or 1.2%, to 4,079.75. The S&P 500 ended the day 20.05 points, or 1.1%, lower at 1,845.04.
Pfizer and American Express Company led the losses among Dow components.
The major averages started the session in the red with little help from other global indices as markets in Asia and Europe posted losses. Contributing to the cautious sentiment was an apparent escalation of tensions in Eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters, demanding referendums on independence, took control of government buildings in four cities.
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The technology sector outperformed thanks to gains in some top components. Cisco Systems, IBM and Intel posted gains between 0.6% and 1.4%. Facebook gained 0.4%, while LinkedIn lost 3.7%.
Among other individual stocks, shares in Facebook dipped in and out of negative territory and closed 0.4% higher. Shares in Apple fell 1.6%.
U.S. economic data released Monday was light and included the employment trends index and consumer installment credit. Neither had a markets impact. Consumer Credit report for February, indicated an increase of $16.50 billion after increasing an upwardly revised $13.80 billion (from $13.70 billion) in January. That was the largest monthly expansion since October 2013. The consensus expected consumer credit to increase by $14.30 billion.
Asian and European stock markets were pressured on Monday following Friday's losses in the U.S. stock market that were led by the Nasdaq index dropping sharply. Friday's U.S. jobs data was just a bit weaker than expected, but still put downside pressure on U.S. equities. The U.S. stock indexes were under pressure again in overnight trading.
Bullion prices ended moderately lower at Comex on Monday, 07 April 2014. Gold ceded gains from last week as speculators moved out of long positions.
Gold for June delivery settled down $5.20, or 0.4%, at $1,298 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver shed 4 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $19.91 an ounce.
Crude Oil prices declined on Monday, 07 April 2014 at Nymex. Prices backed away from $101 a barrel, with Brent crude leading the way on weekend reports that Libya may be close to re-opening two oil ports. Crude for May delivery settled down 70 cents, or 0.7%, to $100.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For the second session in a row, participation was above average with nearly 820 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.
Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which will be released at 10:00 ET.
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