Stocks had a rough day.
It was the first day of trading in this short trading week, with markets closed yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
After the best start to the year since 1987, stocks were probably due for a pullback.
And it was growth, or growth concerns to be exact, that was a key reason for today’s drop.
Yesterday, China reported that their GDP was 6.6% last year, which was the slowest growth pace for China since 1990.
The IMF also cut its global growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020.
And analysts are saying the government shutdown could pose “meaningful risk” to first quarter GDP here in the U.S. An economist at Deutsche Bank said that the shutdown has already had a 0.3% impact on real GDP. And the White House says that each week of the shutdown will cause a 0.13 percentage point decline in U.S. growth.
Stocks were lower at the open and continued to slide throughout the day. There was a small recovery in the last hour of trading, but the major indices still finished with loses of 1.2%+ across the board.
With today’s loss, the S&P dropped below its 50-day moving average. But the rally in the last hour of trading helped the index close above this technical level.
— RECOMMENDED —
Options trading has never been so easy!
Learn How 3 Green Lights Trigger Profit Eruption
BONUS: Stay until the end of this training and receive Jeff’s Course: Become an Option Pro in 30 Days.
Here’s where the major indices ended the day:
- The S&P finished with a 1.4% loss. Down 38 points, the S&P ended at 2,633.
- The DOW ended lower by 1.2%. Dropping 302 points, the DOW closed at 24,404.
- The NASDAQ was down 1.9%. With a 127 point loss, the NASDAQ finished at 7,020.
- Bitcoin finished higher by 1.4%. Up $50, Bitcoin ended at $3,560.
Crude Oil (CL) snapped a 2-day winning streak. Down 1.8%, CL ended at $53.08 a barrel.
In earnings news, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) beat earnings expectations but shared lower than expected revenue guidance for the year. The stock finished the day with a 1.5% loss.
Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) had a similar report and fate, losing 15.5% after a disappointing 2019 profit forecast. And Travelers (TRV) lost 1.3% after an earnings miss.
But things are looking pretty good for IBM (IBM). The stock is up over 7.0% in after hours trading after an earnings beat.
Here is the economic calendar for the week:
Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com.
Source: RockwellTrading by Markus Heitkoetter | Original Link