China's February trade data weighed on the market
U.S. stocks snapped their five-day winning streak to close lower on Tuesday, 08 March 2016 as supply woes weighed on oil prices and worries about a prolonged slowdown in China resurfaced. Equity indices started their day beneath their flat lines as a weaker-than-expected reading of China's February trade data weighed on the market. Stocks climbed off their lows for the bulk of the trading day, but the rally in equities lost steam shortly.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 109.85 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 16,964.10 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 59.43 points, or 1.3%, to close at 4,648.82. The S&P 500 fell 22.50 points, or 1.1%, to close at 1,979.26, led by a 4.1% drop in the energy sector.
Crude-oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as traders bet that weekly data will reveal a fourth straight climb in U.S. crude inventories and as the market resumed its doubts over the potential for an output freeze. The drop in oil weighed on the shares of energy companies. Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil were among the biggest decliners on the Dow.
Early pressure on global stocks came after Chinese trade data showed exports tumbled for an eighth straight month, in another sign a slowing global economy is undercutting growth in the world's second largest economy. Data showed exports fell 25.4% in February, compared with the 15% expected, while imports were down 13.8%.
Among economic data expected for the day, The NFIB small business index for February fell 1 point to 92.9, with none of the 10 components posting a gain confirming that the small business sector is not headed up with any strength.
After major stocks under focus, JetBlue Airways closed down 9.1% after the airliner projected a first-quarter unit revenue decline. Shares of Apple finished 0.8% weaker, after the Supreme Court declined Apple's request for a review of an e-books antitrust case, leaving the iPad maker facing a payment of $400 million to e-book consumers.
European stock markets ended lower almost across the board, with commodity firms bearing the brunt of the selloff.
Bullion prices made a steady finish on Tuesday, 08 March 2016 at Comex. Gold prices ended the U.S. day session near unchanged mark and gave back moderate early gains on Tuesday. The key outside markets on Tuesday saw the U.S. dollar index slightly higher and crude oil prices solidly lower, with Nymex April futures hovering just below $37.00 a barrel.
April Comex gold ended down 0.1% to $1263.20/oz, while May silver fell 1.5% to $15.40/oz.
The focus of traders and investors this week is the Thursday meeting of the European Central Bank. Many believe the ECB this week will announce further monetary policy stimulus measures by pushing interest rates further into negative territory, in an effort to jumpstart the moribund Euro zone economy.
Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, 08 March 2016, a day after hitting their highest settlements of the year. Growing doubts over the potential for an output freeze, as traders bet that data will reveal a fourth-straight weekly climb in U.S. crude inventories, has placed crude prices under pressure. A bearish note from Goldman Sachs, highlighting the continuing glut of supplies and casting doubt on the sustainability of a recent run-up in commodities, also served as a headwind.
April West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $36.50 a barrel, down $1.40, or 3.7%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange after tapping highs above $38 earlier. May Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange shed $1.19, or 2.9%, to $39.65 a barrel. Both benchmarks on Monday marked their highest settlements of the year.
But offering some support for oil prices, China's February trade data showed China oil imports rose 24.5% versus the year ago. Recent reports have also shown declines in the number of active U.S. oil rigs and expectations for further falls in domestic shale production.
The Treasury complex climbed higher to begin the session, but backed away from its high. The yield on the 10-yr note ended lower by eight basis points at 1.82%.
Today's participation stood more than 1.08 billion shares at the New York Stock Exchange floor.
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