FOX: Stocks Slump as Traders Await Factory, Housing Data
U.S. equity markets continued sliding for the second day as traders braced for key readings on the manufacturing and housing sectors.
Today's Markets
As of 9:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.1 points, or 0.12%, to 16203, the S&P 500 slumped 1.4 points, or 0.06%, to 1860 and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 3.6 points, or 0.09%, to 4304.
Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen capped her first media briefing as head of the mighty central bank with a bang. But perhaps not exactly the kind of bang she was expecting.
Wall Street took heavy losses on Wednesday after Yellen said the central bank might start hiking rates from historic lows as soon as six months after it finishes its bond-buying program. That notion, combined with a relatively hawkish interest rate forecast, sent stocks dropping and Treasury yields climbing.
The Treasury market stabilized on Thursday, with the 10-year yield falling 0.007 percentage point as traders bought the asset.
On the economic front, the Labor Department said the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose last week to 320,000 from 315,000 the week prior. Wall Street was looking for claims to rise to 325,000.
A report at 10:00 a.m. from the Philadelphia Fed, meanwhile, is expected to show the factory sector in the mid-Atlantic region having flipped back into expansion mode in March after contracting in February. At the same time a report from the National Association of Realtors could indicate sales of existing, single-family homes having fallen slightly to an annual rate of 4.6 million units in February from 4.62 million units in the month prior.
Economists and policymakers have said harsh winter weather affected economic data across the board. Those issues are seen as temporary headwinds that should abate as the weather improves.
In corporate news, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) said it will hike its regular dividend by 10.2%.
Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures fell 42 points, or 0.42%, to $99.95 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline dipped 0.21% to $2.863 a gallon. Gold slumped $19.10, or 1.4%, to $1,322 a troy ounce.
