China fears push US stocks lower
Worries about the outlook for growth in China and a slide in the price of oil pushed the stock market to its biggest loss in almost seven weeks today.
Investors are nervous about China following a run of soft economic data that suggests growth in the world’s second-largest economy is slowing. The worries about China helped push down the price of oil. That in turn weighed on energy stocks.
The stock market has struggled to gain traction this month as investors have weighed signs of an improving economy in the US against evidence of slowing growth in both Europe and Asia.
“We’ve got China weighing down on stocks,” said Kristina Hooper, US investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors. “The lack of transparency there always creates greater uncertainty.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 16.11 points, or 0.8%, to 1,994.29. The loss was the biggest one-day decline for the index since August 5. The index is down 0.5% this month.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 107.06 points, or 0.6%, to 17,172.68. The Nasdaq composite dropped 52.10 points, or 1.1%, to 4,527.69.
The losses were broad, and all 10 industry sectors that make up the S&P 500 declined. Energy stocks were the second-biggest decliners, slumping 1.4% as the price of oil fell. Companies that rely the most on consumer spending, such as entertainment and media conglomerates and retailers, fell the most.
The price of oil dropped on concerns that Libya’s production is picking up at a time when global economic indicators point to weaker demand from countries including China. Benchmark US oil fell 89 cents to 91.52 dollars a barrel. Analysts say US oil could test the 90 dollar mark sometime this week.
Smaller companies were also among the biggest decliners as investors shunned the riskier parts of the market.
The Russell 2000, an index which tracks small-company stocks, fell 1.5%, more than other indexes. The Russell has dropped 3% so far this year, compared with gains of 7.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.6 % for the Dow.
Some analysts say investors should regard any pullback in stock prices as an opportunity to add to their holdings. Recent reports on the manufacturing and the service industries have been strong. Hiring is picking up and inflation remains tame.
“The fundamentals in the US have been coming in strong, beyond expectations,” said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. “It’s a modest pullback. If anything I would take it as an opportunity to build positions.”
Today, stocks were also hurt by a report showed that fewer Americans bought homes in August as investors retreated from real estate and first-time buyers remained scarce.
If the trend continues it could dent consumers’ confidence, said Allianz’s Hooper.
“It really speaks to much of middle-class America. The largest component of their net worth is their home,” she said. “It could really put a damper on consumer spending and consumer sentiment.”
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell 1.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million. That followed four months of gains. August sales fell from a July rate of 5.14 million, a figure that was revised slightly downward.
The report weighed on homebuilding stocks. Hovnanian fell 14 cents, or 3.6%, to 3.80 dollars and Beazer Homes fell 52 cents, or 2.8%, to 18.09 dollars.
St. Louis-based chemical firm Sigma-Aldrich was among the day’s winners. The company’s stock surged 34.03 dollars, or 33.2%, to 136.40 dollars after agreeing to be acquired by Merck, a German drug company. Merck is paying 140 dollars a share from Sigma-Aldrich, a premium of 37% over Friday’s closing price.
Apple also bucked the slump, logging a small gain of 10 cents, or 0.1%, to 101.06 dollars. The technology company said that it has sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, a record for a new model, in the three days after the phones went on sale.
In other energy trading, wholesale petrol fell 2.7 cents to 2.585 dollars a gallon, heating oil dropped three cents to 2.687 dollars a gallon and natural gas rose 1.3 cents to 3.85 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.
Metals remained weak. Silver continued its recent descent, falling to its lowest level since the summer of 2010.
The price of an ounce of silver fell 7 cents, or 0.4%, to 17.77 dollars an ounce. Precious metals, including gold, have been pressured by the recent strength of the dollar, low global inflation and rising stock markets. Gold is trading close to its lowest price since the start of the year. Gold edged up 1.30 dollars, or 0.1%, to 1,217.90 dollars an ounce. Copper fell five cents, or 1.7%, to 3.04 dollars a pound.
US government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year government bond, which falls when prices rise, dropped to 2.55% from 2.58%.
In currency trading, the dollar weakened against both the Japanese yen and the euro.
The Japanese yen has been trading at six-year lows against the dollar in anticipation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year while the Bank of Japan will maintain an easy monetary policy. Today, the dollar edged down to 108.77 yen. The euro rose a fraction to 1.2849 dollars.
