· Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, adding to Wall Street’s poor start to the final quarter of 2019 as investors grapple with fears of an economic recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 494.42 points, or 1.9% to close at 26,078.68. The Dow also broke below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, two technical levels watched by traders. The S&P500 lost 1.8% to 2,887.61 to fall below its 100-day moving average as the tech sector dropped 2%. All 11 S&P 500 sectors were down, with 10 of them sliding at least 1.2%.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.6% to 7,785.25 as large-cap tech companies followed the broader market lower. Amazon, Apple and Alphabet all dropped at least 1.3%. Microsoft shares also fell 1.8%.
Chinese and U.S. officials are scheduled to meet in Washington next week. Both sides have been in a trade war since last year that has rattled investor sentiment and economic growth expectations.
· Stock indexes were nearing record high levels, until October and the fourth quarter began.
In the last two days the U.S. markets have fallen broadly, as investors began showing concern about fresh signs of an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s losses deepened on Wednesday, bringing its two-day decline to 838 points. The Dow has lost 3.1% so far this quarter, already wiping out the 1.2% gain of the third quarter. It remains up 11.8% for the year.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 finished the third quarter of the calendar year just below the all-time highs hit in July, so this has been a rapid turn of events.
· Stocks in Asia traded lower Thursday morning on fresh trade concerns, with the U.S. announcing it’s set to slap tariffs on European Union goods.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 1.75% in early trade, with shares of index heavyweights Fast Retailing, Softbank Group and Fanuc all dropping more than 1.5% each. The Topix index also slipped 1.69%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.08% as most of the sectors saw declines. The heavily-weighted financial subindex fell more than 2%, with shares of the country’s so-called Big Four banks seeing declines: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group slipped 2.57%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 2.44%, Westpac fell 2.4% and National Australia Bank dropped 3.03%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.34% lower.
· Markets in China and South Korea are closed on Thursday for holidays.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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