The Closing Bell: Stocks Slide As Investors Pause On Trade Developments

Ted

FYI: U.S. stocks turned lower Monday, erasing early gains as investors continued to seek certainty on a trade deal between the U.S. and China as the two nations inch closer to a pact.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has risen for nine of the past 10 weeks, slid 206 points, or .79%, to 25819, after climbing more than 100 points early in the session. The S&P 500 lost .39% and the Nasdaq Composite shed .23%.

In Monday’s action, the heath-care sector in the S&P 500 lost 2%, with shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance and UnitedHealth Group shedding 2.4% and 4.3%, respectively.

Meanwhile, shares of AT&T fell 3.7% after the company announced that it started reorganizing its WarnerMedia unit by combining its disparate networks and entertainment businesses, in an overhaul that is expected to lead to significant layoffs.

In currencies, the WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the buck against a basket of 16 currencies, was up 0.1%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 2.724%, from 2.755% Friday. Yields move inversely to prices.

In commodities, U.S. oil prices climbed 0.6% while gold prices sank 0.8%.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2%, following broad gains across Asia where Chinese stocks hit a nine-month high. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1%, its highest closing since June, and Japan’s Nikkei finished up 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which is dominated by mainland Chinese companies and other businesses that are heavily exposed to China, advanced 0.5%.

Seven of the sectors in the S&P 500 were lower, led by declines in heath-care and technology stocks. Materials , Real Estate, Energy, and Utilities were in positive territory.
Regards,
Ted
MarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-climb-on-reports-trade-deal-will-soon-be-finalized-2019-03-04/print

Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-04/your-evening-briefing

WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-climb-on-progress-in-trade-talks-11551688812

Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-03/yuan-climbs-with-aussie-on-trade-deal-optimism-markets-wrap

IBD:
https://www.investors.com/news/technology/salesforce-earnings-salesforce-stock-q42018/

Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/sp-falls-below-2800-as-trade-optimism-fades-idUSKCN1QL14R

CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/stock-market.html

U.K.:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-rises-as-us-and-china-move-closer-to-a-trade-deal-2019-03-04/print

Europe:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/major-european-indexes-rise-as-us-and-china-take-steps-towards-trade-agreement-2019-03-04/print

Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-gain-on-reports-that-us-china-trade-agreement-is-imminent-2019-03-03/print

Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/us-treasury-yields-slip.html

Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/forex-markets-aussie-dollar-chinese-yuan-us-china-trade-in-focus.html

Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/oil-markets-us-china-trade-opec-in-focus.html

Gold
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/gold-markets-china-us-trade-deal-dollar-in-focus.html

WSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/us

Major ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitor

SPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker

SPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectors

Current Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx