Nasdaq Drops 1.3%, U.S. Trade Deficit at 6-Year High

Nichole Harper
05 May, 2015
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street traded lower and tech-heavy Nasdaq index declined 1.3%. Oil price jumped above $60 a barrel in New York. Two independent surveys showed service sector expanded in April. Indexes in Shanghai plunged 4%, in Europe fell as much as 2% and declined in India.

[R]1:10 PM – Stocks on Wall Street traded lower and tech-heavy Nasdaq index declined 1.3%. Oil price jumped above $60 a barrel in New York. Two independent surveys showed service sector expanded in April. Indexes in Shanghai plunged 4%, in Europe fell as much as 2% and declined in India.[/R]

U.S. market indexes traded lower and trade deficit in March jumped to widest since October 2008 prompting speculation that the economy contracted in the first-quarter.

Trade deficit widened in March after West Coast port strike ended and imports flooded into the country.

U.S. trade deficit in March widened to $51.4 billion from revised $35.9 billion in February.

Exports in March rose $1.6 billion to $187.8 billion and imports jumped $17.1 billion to $239.2 billion from February, the Department of Commerce reported.

Traded deficit in March jumped 43% from February and was widest since the deficit in October 2008.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index slipped 0.9% or 102.65 to 10,665.78.

S&P 500 index slipped 12.99 or 0.6% to 2,101.62 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 55.35 or 1.1% to 4,961.51.

Crude oil in New York jumped $1.93 to $60.76 a barrel and gold climbed $8.10 to $1,194.90 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

DirecTV ((DTV)) slipped 54 cents to $89.77 after the digital television services provider reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 3.7% to $8.14 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 30.1% to $730 million or $1.44 per diluted share compared to $561 million or $1.09 from the same quarter last year.

In the quarter, DirecTV added 279,000 new subscribers including 60,000 in the United States while overall DirecTV subscribers increased to 20.41 million in the U.S. and to 12.69 million in Latin America.

Kellogg Company ((K)) fell 30 cents to $63.83 after the cereal and convenience foods maker said revenues in the first-quarter ending on April 4 declined 5% to $3.56 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable sales in the quarter decreased 0.3% and U.S. morning-foods division sales slumped 2.9%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 44% to $227 million or 64 cents per diluted share compared to $406 million or $1.12 from the same quarter last year.

Walt Disney Co ((DIS)) gained 87 cents to $111.90 after the entertainment and media group reported total revenues in the second-quarter ending on March 28 jumped 6.9% to $12.46 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 9.9% to $2.11 billion or $1.23 per diluted share compared to $1.92 billion or $1.08 from the same quarter last year.

European Markets

Market indexes across the euro zone advanced and wholesale price index gained.

Industrial producer price index rose 0.2% in March in the euro area and in the wider region of EU28 nations.

In February, prices increased 0.6% in the euro area and in EU28, the Statistical Office of the European Communities said.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.5% or 41.18 to 7,027.13 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 0.8% or 96.08 to 11,523.77.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 0.6% or 28.86 to 5,053.11.

adidas AG gained 0.9% to €76.22 after the athletic and sports lifestyle products maker reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in March soared 17.3% to €4.08 billion from €3.48 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter climbed 8.3% from a year ago to €221 million compared to €204 million and diluted earnings per share increased to €1.08 billion from €0.96.

Revenues from footwear segment soared 27% to €2.09 billion and revenues from apparel business climbed 11% to €1.60 billion.

The company forecasted net profit for the second-half to climb between 7% and 10% from €642 million in fiscal 2014 and gross margin is estimated between 47.5% and 48.5%.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG dropped 2% to €12.41 after the Germany-based airline company said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 7.9% to €6.97 billion form €6.46 billion in a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to profit from a year ago to €425 million compared to a loss of €252 million earnings per share swung to €0.92 from a loss per share of €55.

Lufthansa said traffic revenues in the quarter jumped 5% to €5.42 billion but the number of passengers edged down 0.8% to 21.56 million as overall load factor in the period slipped 0.5 points to 72.4% and the strikes led to a burden of about €42 million.

The company forecasted revenues for the fiscal 2015 to be slightly less than the reported €30.01 billion in fiscal 2014 and operating profit of above €1.5 billion.

Asian Markets

Markets in Japan were closed in a weeklong holiday.

Market indexes on Dalal Street struggled and investors focused on corporate earnings news as the rupee trended lower.

Rupee eased 2 paisa 63.44.

The Sensex Index fell 50.45 to close at 27,440.14. The CNX Nifty slid 7.15 to 8,324.80.

Ashok Leyland Limited fell 0.9% to ₹70.65 after the commercial vehicle maker said April total sales in the month climbed 43% to 8,435 units compared to 5,897 units in the same period a year ago.

The company added medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales soared 45% to 6,549 units from 4,523 units and light commercial vehicle sales climbed 37% to 1,886 units from 1,374 units a year ago.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited climbed 6.5% to ₹1,423.65 after the largest private bank said net in the fourth-quarter soared 29.46% to ₹527.14 crore.

Total revenues jumped 27.26% to ₹3,249.08 crore.