Dow plummets on rate fears and Tech shares Nasdaq

Here are 3 things to know about stocks right now

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq traded sharply lower on Thursday. The indices fell for a second consecutive session.
• Federal Reserve officials believe that the best way to encourage a stable US economy is to raise interest rates gradually, according to the minutes of the last meeting of the central bank.
• Textron Inc. (TXT) fell 10.5 percent on Thursday after the defense and aeronautics and defense company missed estimates of third-quarter earnings and sales and released a disappointing forecast.

Wall Street: an overview

Shares fell sharply on Thursday, October 18, after several hawkish minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting boosted the chances of a rise in interest rates in the country. in the short term, leading to higher US Treasury yields. Gold rose as signs of a growing trade war with China added to concerns over the pace of global growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index fell 324 points, or 1.3%, to 25,382.37, the S & P 500 index lost 1.4% and the Nasdaq, 2.1% . The declines of today and yesterday have mostly erased the progress made on Tuesday. Technology stocks such as Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) fell 2.3% to 3.5%. The 10-year Treasury bond yield was 3.2%. The Dow, which has fallen in eight of the last eleven trading sessions, is negotiating roughly at its return point on Jan. 10. Gold for December shipments rose 0.1% to $ 1,228.20 an ounce.

Federal Reserve officials say the best way to encourage a stable US economy is to gradually raise interest rates, according to the minutes of the central bank monetary policy meeting held from 25 to 26 September, which was made public Wednesday. The Fed raised rates for the third time this year last month in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, and the minutes of the meeting suggest that President Jerome Powell and his colleagues will not influenced by the criticism of Donald Trump, who said: the central bank was acting "too fast" to tighten its policy and threatened the health of the US economy.

The Fed said a gradual approach to rate hikes, counter to the acceleration of inflation and robust growth, "would balance the risk of a too rapid policy tightening. monetary policy, which could lead to a sharp downturn in the economy and to lower inflation, may progress too slowly, which could lead to persistent inflation above the target and possibly contribute to a financial imbalances. "

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a tweet that he would not attend a forthcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who also started the feeling.

Textron Inc. (TXT) fell 11.3% on Thursday after the defense and aeronautics and defense company missed estimates of third-quarter earnings and sales and released disappointing forecasts.

Danaher Corp. (DHR) reported earnings per share of $ 1.10 in the third quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $ 1.08. The company's scientific and medical technology company said it expects earnings per share adjusted for the 2018 fiscal year from 4.49 USD to 4.52 USD. Analysts demanded $ 4.49. The stock was down 3.5%.

Travelers Cos. (TRV) said Thursday a base profit of $ 2.54 per share in the third quarter, exceeding expectations at $ 2.26. Net premiums written during the quarter increased 6% to $ 7.06 billion and exceeded expectations. Shares fell 1%.

American Express Co. (AXP) and PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) should release their results after the closing bell on Thursday.

Textron, Danaher and PayPal are assets in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Do you want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells the shares? Learn more now

Novartis AG (NVS) has reached an agreement to acquire Endocyte Inc. (ECYT) for $ 2.1 billion.

The deal puts the cancer therapist at $ 24 per share, a 54% premium over Endocyte's closing price of $ 15.56 on Wednesday. The endocyte share climbed 50.4% Thursday to $ 23.45.

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