Wall Street Slips on Geopolitical Tensions, Weak Retail Data and Sector Losses

U.S. stocks fell as Israel-Iran worries resurfaced, May retail sales disappointed and sectors like airlines and housing posted sharp declines.

The Nasdaq slid 180.12 points (0.9%) to 19,521.09, the S&P 500 decreased 50.39 points (0.8%) to 5,982.72 and the Dow fell 299.29 points (0.7%) to 42,215.80.

Wall Street dipped as traders took profits from Mondays rally amid fresh Israel-Iran tensions. Trump left the G7 summit early, denying it was for a ceasefire, and later demanded Irans unconditional surrender, fueling market worries.

The Commerce Department said retail sales slid by 0.9% in May after edging down by a revised 0.1% in April. Excluding a steep drop in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales fell by 0.3% in May after coming in unchanged in April. Ex-auto sales were expected to inch up by 0.1%.

 

Airline stocks significantly moved downwards after rebounding on Monday, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 3.8%. Housing stocks were considerably weak, as reflected by the 2.5% slump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Pharmaceutical, telecom and healthcare stocks were notably weak while energy stocks regained ground along with the price of crude oil.

Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index increased by 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.3%. The major European markets all moved to the downside while the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1%, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreased by 0.5%.

In the bond market, treasuries regained ground following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled by 6.5 bps to 4.38%.

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