Wall Street Indexes in 4-Day Decline, Weekly Loss of 5% in Oil

Nichole Harper
24 Jul, 2015
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street declined for the fourth day in a row and metal prices fell to multi-year lows. Crude oil price extended 20% decline from the high of $61 a barrel in June and fell 5% in the week. Manufacturing sector outlook in China remained weak.

[R]2:00 PM New York City, New York – Market indexes on Wall Street declined for the fourth day in a row and metal prices fell to multi-year lows. Crude oil price extended 20% decline from the high of $61 a barrel in June and fell 5% in the week. Manufacturing sector outlook in China remained weak.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded lower for the fourth day in a row on a weakness in metals and energy prices and in healthcare stocks despite stronger earnings from Amazon, Starbucks and Visa.

Amazon.com, jumped more than 20% after the online store reported unexpected profit and market value crossed $270 billion, surpassing Wal-Mart.

Seasonally adjusted new home sales in June declined 6.8% to 482,000 from the revised May rate of 517,000 and surged 18.1% from a year ago month to 408,000.

The median sale price of new homes sold in the month was $281,800 and average price was $328,700, the Department of Commerce said.

In addition, metal prices declined to multi-year low on reports of sustained selling by China and rising production of iron ore in Australia and Brazil. Crude oil prices dipped to a new low in the year in New York.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index fell 26.04 or 0.2% to 10,792.10.

S&P 500 index fell 14 or 0.7% to 2,088.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 24.41 or 0.5% to 5,121.20.

Crude oil in New York slipped 41 cents to $48.04 a barrel and gold dropped $9.90 to $1,084.20 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Anthem Inc ((ANTM)) slumped 2.7% or $4.24 to $150.99 after the health care services provider today agreed to acquire its rival Cigna Corporation for $54.2 billion or 55% cash and 45% in stock of Anthem shares.

Shareholders of Cigna will receive $103.40 in cash and 0.5152 of Anthem shares totaling about $188 for each share of Cigna.

Shares of Cigna Corporation declined 4.8% to $146.98

Amazon.com, Inc ((AMZN)) surged 14.5% or $70.07 to $552.34 after the online retailer reported net sales in the second-quarter ending in June soared 20% to $23.18 billion from a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to $92 million profit or 19 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $26 million or 27 cents from the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted net sales for the third quarter in the range of $23.3 billion to $25.5 billion.

AT&T Inc ((T)) jumped 3% or $1.02 to $34.94 after the communications services provider reported sales in the second-quarter ending in June increased 1.4% to $33.02 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter plunged 14.4% to $3.04 billion or 58 cents per diluted share compared to $3.55 billion or 68 cents from the same quarter last year.

As of June, AT&T reported cash and cash equivalents of $20.95 billion from $11.3 billion in a year ago period.

Separately, the telecom company won the Justice Department merger approval of company’s proposed $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV after the Federal Communications Commission voted on to approve the merger.

Visa Inc ((V)) soared 4.5% or $3.20 to $74.95 after the debit and credit card payment services provider reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in June surged 12% to $3.52 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 25% to $1.70 billion or 69 cents per diluted share compared to $1.36 billion or 54 cents from the same quarter last year.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 25.96 or 0.4% to 6,629.12 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 71.40 or 0.6% to 11,446.31.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 17.82 or 0.4% to 5,073.47.

For the week, FTSE 100 index slumped 2.2% and the DAX index dropped 2% and the CAC 40 index decreased 1%.

Anglo American Plc increased 1% to 814.50 pence after the U.K.-based mining company reported group revenues in the first-half ending in June plunged 18.7% to $11.56 billion from $14.22 billion in a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to a loss from a year ago to $3.02 billion compared to profit of $1.46 and diluted loss per share swung to $2.23 from $1.14.

The miner plans to reduce number of assets to 40 from 55 and also intends to reduce total employees by 35%. The company is also targeting total cost saving of about $500 million.

BASF SE declined 3.4% to €80.07 after the Germany-based chemical maker reported sales in the first-half ending in June jumped 3% to €39.15 billion from €37.97 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period declined 10% from a year ago to €2.44 billion compared to €2.72 billion and earnings per share slipped to €2.66 from €2.96.

Separately, the company intends to establish separate legal entities for the pigments business and will assess all possible options for separate entities within new business unit, including eliminating overcapacity.

Danone SA fell 0.7% to €61.69 after the France-based dairy products maker reported revenues in the first-half ending in June jumped 4.6% to €11.39 billion from €10.47 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period tumbled 31.6% from a year ago to €416 million compared to €608 million but diluted earnings per share decreased to €0.69 from €1.03.

Separately, the food supplier signed a ""preliminary agreement"" to sell its flagship Dumex infant formula unit in China to China-based Yashili International Holdings Ltd and raise 9.9% stake in dairy giant China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, Yashili''s indirect parent company.

Vodafone Group Plc jumped 3.5% to 240 pence after the U.K.-based mobile company reported group revenues in the first-quarter ending in June fell 0.9% to £10.11 billion form a year ago period.

Revenue in Europe slumped 3.9% to £6.50 billion while revenues in Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific region climbed 5.5% to £3.36 billion.

Vodafone added service revenue in the quarter dropped 2.9% to £9.17 billion.

Asian Markets

Investors in Tokyo sold stocks and focused on domestic earnings after manufacturing sector growth outlook was weak in China and overseas markets declined.

Meiji Yasuda agreed to acquire the U.S. based insurance group for $5 billion. Softbank prepares for a bond offering next week.

Market indexes in Tokyo eased after weaker-than-expected manufacturing outlook in China and a weakness in overseas markets.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 139.42 or 0.7% to 20,544.53 and the broader Topix index slid 9.02 to 1,655.86. For the week, Nikkei 225 jumped 3.9%.

The yen closed at 123.91 against a dollar.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co, the Japan’s third-largest privately held life insurance group agreed to acquire the U.S.-based StanCorp Financial Group Inc. for about 624.6 billion yen or $5 billion amid to expand its business in overseas market.

Market indexes in Mumbai extended losses for the second day after the government struggled to pass Goods and Services Tax in Rajya Sabha and weaker-than-expected quarterly results also dragged market sentiment.

Wipro declined more than 3% after earnings failed to impress analysts and ICICI Bank led the decliners in the Sensex index ahead of earnings next week.

Rupee weakened 28 paisa to 64.04 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index dropped 258.53 or 0.9% to close at 28,112.31. The CNX Nifty slipped 68.25 or 0.8% to 8,521.55.

For the week, Sensex Index slipped 1.2% and CNX Nifty decreased 0.9%.