US stocks tumble on global economic slowdown
Wall Street’s three major indexes tumbled on Friday and the Dow confirmed a correction as weak data from China and Europe stoked fears of a global economic slowdown, while Johnson & Johnson shares were the biggest drag after Reuters reported the company knew for decades that its Baby Powder contained asbestos.
The S&P 600 small cap index confirmed it was in a bear market after closing 20.05 percent below its Aug. 31 peak, falling 1.6 percent on the day.
The Johnson & Johnson report, which the company has disputed, sent its shares tumbling 10 percent in heavy volume, making it the biggest weight from a single stock on the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials.
Investors focused on global growth concerns and worried about US growth after China reported weak monthly retail sales growth and industrial output numbers, as disappointing economic data was released from the euro zone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 496.87 points, or 2.02 percent, to 24,100.51, 10 percent below its Oct. 3 closing high. The S&P 500 lost 50.59 points, or 1.91 percent, to 2,599.95, 11.3 percent lower than its Sept. 20 record close, marking the poorest performance for the benchmark since it fell more than 14 percent between May 2015 and January 2016. And with Friday’s close the losses inflicted by the correction are deeper than the declines suffered earlier this year. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 159.67 points, or 2.26 percent, to 6,910.67. For the week, the S&P fell 1.25 percent and the Dow lost 1.2 percent while the Nasdaq shed 0.84 percent.
Johnson & Johnson helped pull down the S&P healthcare index 3.4 percent, making it the biggest percentage decliner among the S&P’s 11 major sectors. The technology index, which includes a number of companies with global operations, especially China, dropped 2.5 percent. The energy index fell 2.4 percent. Strong US retail sales data appeared to have little impact on markets, with the S&P retail sector falling 2.4 percent. On US exchanges 7.89 billion shares changed hands compared with the 7.97 billion-share average for the last 20 sessions.
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Indian stocks keep climbing
Domestic markets extended their winning run to the fourth straight day on Friday and ended the choppy session on a flat note ahead of RBI board meet outcome. The BSE Sensex closed up 33.29 points, or 0.09 percent, at 35,962.93. On the 30-share index, 18 constituents ended in the green, with Bharti Airtel leading the pack.
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Japan stocks end lower
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Machinery, Precision Instruments and Communication sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 2.02 percent.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Showa Denko K.K., which rose 1.61 percent or 60.0 points to trade at 3790.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd added 1.51percent or 27.5 points to end at 1846.5 and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd was up 1.37 percent or 18.0 points to 1333.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Tokyo Dome Corp which fell 7.65 percent or 75.0 points to trade at 905.0 at the close. Yahoo Japan Corp.declined 5.73 percent or 18.0 points to end at 296.0 and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (T:8035) was down 5.46 percent or 770.0 points to 13345.0. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2871 to 703 and 144 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 7.72percent to 19.59.
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France stocks lower at close of trade; CAC 40 down 0.88 percent
France stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Healthcare, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares lower. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.88 percent, while the SBF 120 index declined 0.89 percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Engie SA, which rose 1.02 percent or 0.13 points to trade at 12.90 at the close. Meanwhile, Publicis Groupe SA added 0.64 percent or 0.32 points to end at 49.98 and Total SA was up 0.33 percent or 0.16 points to 49.10 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Valeo SA, which fell 4.15 percent or 1.04 points to trade at 24.02 at the close. Dassault Systemes declined 4.11 percent or 4.50 points to end at 105.10 and Schneider Electric SE was down 2.93 percent or 1.84 points to 61.00. The top performers on the SBF 120 were Elior Group which rose 5.30 percent to 12.71, GTT which was up 3.77 percent to settle at 70.15 and Electricite de France SA which gained 2.01 percent to close at 14.24. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 0.90percent to 18.87.
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Poor China data caps turbulent week for FTSE
Weak economic data from China sent Britain’s top stock index down as miners, consumer stocks and banks suffered from investors’ mounting anxiety about the world’s second-biggest economy.
The FTSE 100 ended the day down 0.7 percent, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.9 percent. The leading stocks index still managed a gain for the week, which saw Prime Minister May win a vote of no confidence on Wednesday. Mining stocks dropped as London copper was on course for a third straight weekly loss. Glencore dropped 1.7 percent while Rio Tinto, BHP, and Anglo American fell between 0.6 and 1.5 percent. Helping the FTSE 100 come back from its earlier sharp losses were energy stocks and Astrazeneca which gained after SunTrust gave it a “buy” rating. But the FTSE 100, along with euro zone stocks and the pan-European index, was on track for its worst quarter since 2011 when Europe was in the throes of a sovereign debt crisis.
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Taiwan stock market due for profit taking
The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 200 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 9,860-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Friday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on profit taking and uncertainty regarding trade between the United States and China.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies. For the day, the index added 42.31 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 9,858.76 after trading between 9,815.5 and 9,871.96 on turnover of 111.99 billion Taiwan dollars.