Advertisment
Stocks traded lower on Thursday as fears of rising interest rates and worries about a slowing Chinese economy overshadowed strong corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials crumbled 272.3 points, or 1.1%, midday to 25,434.38, led by declines in Caterpillar and Apple.
The S&P 500 slumped 29.59 points, or 1.1%, to 2,779.62, as the communications and tech sectors lagged.
The NASDAQ collapsed 118.62 points, or 1.6%, to 7,523.88
Housing stocks fell as rates rose, and after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of Toll Brothers and PulteGroup, along with NVR, as it reduced its forecast for housing starts.
Several stocks seen as economic bellwethers fell sharply in the U.S. United Rentals and Textron both dropped at least 8%. Snap-on dropped 7.8%, while Caterpillar removed 2.8%.
The stronger yields offset strong corporate earnings results released Thursday. Dow-member Travelers, Bank of New York Mellon, BB&T and Danaher were among the companies that reported better-than-expected earnings before the bell.
Investors came into the earnings season with high hopes. Analysts polled by FactSet expected third-quarter earnings to have grown by 19% on a year-over-year basis. So far, the season is off to a good start. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, 84.1% have posted better-than-expected profits.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 3.17% from Wednesday’s 3.2%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 19 cents at $69.56 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices regained $3.90 an ounce to $1,231.30
