A slump in commodity prices reignite fears about slowing global growth
U.S. stocks closed lower for a second day in a row on Wednesday, 23 September 2015 shedding modest early morning gains, after a rebound in crude oil prices fizzled out. Gloomy data pointing to decelerating growth in China and tepid improvement in the eurozone's manufacturing sector, adding to the market's slump. A slump in commodity prices reignited fears about slowing global growth. Commodity prices rebounded on Wednesday but oil prices dropped back down with crude oil falling more than 3% to below $45 a barrel, and gold and silver prices settling slightly higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 50.58 points, or 0.3%, to end the day at 16,279.89. The S&P 500 declined 3.98 points, or 0.2%, at 1,938.76 after trading up 7 points and down as many as 10 points earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 3.98 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 4,752.74.
Six out of 10 main sectors traded lower, with materials and energy leading the decline.
Shares of Caterpillar and Boeing were the biggest drags on the Dow.
Shares of Volkswagen jumped after its CEO stepped down following a growing diesel-emissions scandal.
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The top-weighted technology sector settled in the lead thanks to gains among large cap names like Apple, Google, Intel and Microsoft.
Today's choppy action in the stock market had little impact on Treasuries as the 10-yr note spent the day in the red, pushing its yield up two basis points to 2.15%.
Economic data from Europe missed expectations but pointed to a slow recovery. Meanwhile European Central Bank's President Mario Draghi said macroeconomic conditions weakened over the summer. European stock markets pared gains but still ended higher.
The latest Chinese factory gauge underscored concerns about slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The preliminary Caixin China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to the lowest level since the financial crisis and missed analyst forecasts. Stocks ended mostly lower in Asia after the numbers, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 2.2%.
Investor participation was on the light side with fewer than 800 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which surged 13.9% to follow last week's 7.0% decrease.
Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (consensus 271K), August Durable Orders (expected -2.0%) will be reported at 8:30 ET while August New Home Sales (expected 515,000) will be announced at 10:00 ET.
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