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Chinese gambling stocks plunged over fears of a crackdown in Macau.
(Paul Yeung / Bloomberg)
September has historically been a bad month for stocks, and September is a particularly bad month. Dating back to 1928, the average return of the S&P 500 in September was a loss of 0.99%, and by mid-month of that year the index has already fallen more than 1.7%.
Wall Street was ready for a mixed day on Wednesday after another miserable day of trading on Tuesday. Equities in Europe and Asia were also mixed on fears of a market correction.
Growing cases of Covid-19 around the world are hurting sales for many companies. Weak economic data in August is not helping stocks either.
Future for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 21 points after the index fell 292 points on Tuesday to close at 34,577.
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq
were both up 0.1%.
Overseas, Hong Kong
Hang Seng Index
fell 1.8% as Asian investors focused on a sharp slowdown in retail sales in China. The consensus expected August retail sales to increase 7% year-on-year, but the reading was only 2.5%. Industrial production rose 5.3%, below expectations of 5.8%.
Bad data “took a toll on risky assets overnight,” wrote Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research.
The pan-European
Stoxx 600
was down 0.4% as the spotlight was on UK inflation, which hit 3.2% in August, the biggest annual jump on record.
Analysts noted that investor sentiment is more generally mixed, with concerns continuing to focus on the possibility of a broader market correction.
“Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed -0.32% from its 50-day moving average, and the index has only closed below that average once since March 8 (back on June 18), “noted Jim Reid, strategist at Banque Allemande. “Overall, we haven’t seen a fix yet, as many expect, but we’ve seen a stall.”
On Monday, Reid and his team released a monthly survey of more than 550 global financial professionals showing that 58% expect stocks to correct between 5% and 10% before the end of the year. Another 10% saw a market correction of over 10% coming.
In the commodities markets, oil prices rose, continuing to rally. International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.3%, trading above $ 74.50 per barrel. U.S. oil futures rose similarly, with West Texas Intermediate trading above $ 71.40.
In the day ahead, US economic data for the markets to digest includes industrial production figures for August and New York’s Empire State manufacturing index for September.
Here are 15 actions in motion on Wednesday:
Gaming stocks on display in Macau, the world’s largest gaming hub, plunged as Chinese regulators turned their attention to the sector.
Sands China
dove 33% and
Wynn Macau
fell 29% in Hong Kong, with their American parents also feeling the pressure:
Sands of Las Vegas
(ticker: LVS) and
Wynn Resorts
(WYNN) were both down 5% in pre-market trading in the United States.
Softbank
fell 6% in Hong Kong, as concerns persist over regulatory oversight of China’s tech sector, including
Ali Baba
(BABA) —to which Softbank is heavily exposed.
Cyber security specialist
Dark trace
rose 10% in London after releasing optimistic quarterly results, the first since its IPO. The company has raised its forecast for revenue growth and profit margins next year.
The luxury goods sector remains under pressure for a second day amid concerns over the spread of Covid-19 in Asia, the industry’s most critical market.
LVMH
3.3% drop in Paris,
Burberry
was down 2.4% in London,
Richemont
fell 2.7% in Zurich and
To dry
decrease of 3.9% in Paris.
Yum China Holdings
The stock (YUMC) fell 4.4% after the company said its operating profit for the third quarter could fall 50% to 60% year-on-year as outbreaks of Covid-19 in China affected sales.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
The stock (REGN) gained 2.2% after the company announced it was selling 1.4 million additional doses of its monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19 to the US government.
Therapeutic sage
(SAGE) rose 3.3% after the Food and Drug Administration granted the company an expedited designation for its treatment for Huntington’s disease.
Microsoft
The stock (MSFT) gained 1.2% following the announcement that the company is increasing its dividend.
Werner Enterprises
The (WERN) share gained 1.7% after being upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform in Cowen.
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