The major U.S. indexes started the week on a down note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average marking a sixth-consecutive decline that wiped away most of its gains for the year so far. Also of note, heightened investor concerns were reflected in the Chicago Board Option’s Exchange’s Volatility Index (VIX, often referred to as the ‘fear gauge’), which hit its highest level since last October.
As we look to the new day, the futures are suggesting a positive start to today’s session. In overnight trading, markets in Asia closed down, with key indexes losing around 2%, and stocks in Europe are down about 1%. Meanwhile, oil prices have moved lower with West Texas Intermediate down about 0.3%, to around $85.10 a barrel.
First-quarter earnings season is under way in earnest, with shares of Morgan Stanley (MS) and UnitedHealth (UNH) rallying this morning after they announced better-than-expected results. Among the other key releases scheduled for this week are ASML Holding (ASML) and Abbott Labs (ABT) on Wednesday, followed by Netflix (NFLX) and Blackstone (BX) on Thursday, and Procter & Gamble (PG) and American Express (AXP) on Friday.
This morning, we got a couple of reports on the state of the housing market. The Census Bureau announced that new housing starts for the month of March came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.321 million. This was below the revised February estimate of 1.549 million (previously 1.521 million), and Wall Street estimates of around 1.48 million. Meanwhile, building permits (a more forward-looking indicator) totaled 1.458 million, compared to February’s tally of 1.523 million, and expectations of 1.514 million. The rest of the economic calendar for the week includes the Department of Labor’s report on initial jobless claims due out Thursday. Market watchers are calling for an uptick to 214,000, versus 211,000 the week before. That same day, the National Association of Realtors will release its figures on existing home sales for March, with expectations calling for an annualized tally of around 4.2 million, which would mark a decline from the 4.38 million recorded the month before.
Summing up Monday’s moves, the Dow Jones Industrials declined 248 points, or 0.7%, the S&P 500 lost 61 points (1.2%), and the tech-focused NASDAQ slid 290 points (1.8%) - Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
CLICK HERE for more information on our services or call 1-800-VALUELINE (1-800-825-8354). Our account managers are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time.
