FYI: The S&P 500 fell Thursday on skepticism about a U.S.-China trade truce and weakening manufacturing data, pulling back from its record close a day earlier.
The broad stock-market index declined 0.30% after setting a new high Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, or 0.52%, to 27046. The Nasdaq Composite also fell, sliding 0.14%.
Concerns over trade tensions—a constant overhang for the market all year—resurfaced overnight after Bloomberg News reported that Chinese officials doubt they will be able to reach a long-term trade deal with the U.S., sending stock futures lower.
Stocks opened lower following the tweet and widened their losses as the session progressed, with 10 of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors falling into the red.
Weakening economic data added to the stock market’s swoon. The Chicago Purchasing Management Index fell to its lowest level since December 2015 last month, suggesting conditions are deteriorating for Midwest manufacturers.
That all cast a shadow over solid reports from market leaders Apple and Facebook, and the Federal Reserve’s commitment a day earlier to maintain low interest rates following its third cut this year.
Assets considered to be havens in times of uncertainty saw an uptick. Gold climbed 1.2% and government-bond prices rose. The yield on 10-year Treasurys fell to 1.701% from 1.801% Wednesday.
Stocks, from manufacturers to technology companies to banks, all fell during Thursday’s trading session.
The Dow’s more-than-200-point drop was driven mostly by a pullback in trade bellwethers Caterpillar, 3M and Boeing. Boeing shares fell 1.6%, while 3M declined 2.1%. Caterpillar shed 2.4%.
Meanwhile, strong gains from shares of Facebook and Apple, among others, helped to keep the market from sliding further into the red.
Facebook rose nearly 2% after the social-media giant’s quarterly profit and sales exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Apple ticked up 1.8% after it reported growth in gadgets and services that helped offset a decline in iPhone sales.
Kraft Heinz shares added 13% after the food company beat forecasts for its quarterly profit.
A handful of weaker-than-expected reports contributed to the market’s sag.
Shares of Western Digital fell 14% after the data-storage device company swung to a loss in the latest quarter. Estée Lauder declined 5.4% after the cosmetics company scaled back its earnings guidance.
Stocks also fell in other parts of the world.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite slid 0.4% following data showing Chinese manufacturing activity fell to an eight-month low in October, in another signal that the world’s second-largest economy is under pressure from the trade tensions.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-31/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-signal-sp-500-to-pull-back-from-record-after-report-says-china-has-doubts-over-trade-deal-2019-10-31/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-wobble-after-fed-signals-pause-in-further-rate-cuts-11572514720Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-30/asia-stocks-look-to-gain-treasuries-climb-on-fed-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-industrials-small-caps-lead-stock-losses/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/us-stocks-fed-signals-a-pause-in-rate-cuts.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-drops-as-trade-worries-resurface-idUKKBN1XA1KLU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/trade-fears-shell-earnings-knock-1-off-ftse-idUKKBN1XA0ZKEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/autos-miners-keep-european-shares-in-the-red-as-trade-jitters-resurface-idUSKBN1XA122Asia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/asia-markets-october-31-federal-reserve-china-pmi-apple-suppliers.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/us-treasury-yields-fed-cuts-rates-jobless-claims.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/forex-markets-us-federal-reserve-in-focus.htmlOil
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/oil-markets-us-crude-inventories-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/gold-markets-federal-reserve-rate-cut-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
