Media Stocks Second Day Loss Slumps Wall Street Indexes

Nichole Harper
06 Aug, 2015
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street were under pressure after media stocks extended losses to the second day as more younger viewers migrate away from traditional television networks. U.S. weekly jobless claims rose less than expected.

[R]3:00 PM New York City, New York – Stocks on Wall Street were under pressure after media stocks extended losses to the second day as more younger viewers migrate away from traditional television networks. U.S. weekly jobless claims rose less than expected.[/R]

Market indexes declined more than 1% on Wall Street largely because of losses in media stocks extended to the second day.

Tech and media stocks declined after Viacom reported decline in sales and earnings as more viewers shift to online videos and avoid TV-format content and ratings fell.

Eight largest media stocks declined sharply between 3% and 10% in Wednesday’s trading wiping out more than $35 billion in market cap and losses extended on the second day after Viacom plunged as much as 22%.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims rose 3,000 to 270,000 from the previous week’s unrevised claims of 267,000, the Department of Labor reported today.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index dropped 145.03 or 1.3% to 10,742.92.

S&P 500 index slipped 21.13 or 1% to 2,078.70 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 97.57 or 1.9% to 5,042.61.

Crude oil in New York fell 79 cents to $45.52 a barrel and gold gained $6.30 to $1,091.90 an ounce.

In earnings related stocks, Tesla plunged more than 10% and Keurig Green Mountain Coffee collapsed as much as 33% after reporting disappointing results.

Viacom dropped 23% and 21St Century Fox declined more than 12% and Disney, Time Warner and Comcast declined for the second day in a row.

U.S. Movers

CF Industries Holdings, Inc ((CF)) soared 5.4% or $3.30 to $64.92 after the fertilizer products maker agreed to acquire Netherlands-based infrastructure developer OCI NV’s North American and European plants for about $6 billion, including the assumption debt of about $2 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in 2016.

Separately, the company reported net sales in the second-quarter ending in June declined 10.9% to $1.31 billion form a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 12.6% to $351.9 million or $1.49 per diluted share compared to $312.6 million or $1.22 from the same quarter last year.

Mondelez International Inc ((MDLZ)) gained 27 cents to $46.55 after the activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management acquired 7.5% stake, valued $5.5 billion in the Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies maker.

European Markets

Total U.K. production output in June dropped 0.4% from May but rose 1.5% from a year ago month, the Office of the National Statistics said.

Output in mining and quarrying surged 6.3%, the highest since fourth-quarter of 1993 and manufacturing output rose 0.5% and electricity output fell 2% from June 2014.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index edged up 2.59 to 6,754.88 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 23.53 or 0.2% to 11,611.33.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 12.41 or 0.2% to 5,208.93.

adidas AG gained 0.7% to €75.04 after the Germany-based athletic and sports shoe maker reported total revenues in the first-half ending in June soared 16.1% to €7.99 billion or €6.88 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period soared 10.5% from a year ago to €385 million compared to €348 million and diluted earnings per share jumped to €1.90 from €1.67.

The athletic and sports products maker said that it has completed the acquisition fitness tracking app maker Runtastic for about €70 million.

Aviva Plc gained 1.6% to 536.18 after the U.K.-based general and health insurance provider reported total revenues in the first-half ending in June declined 46.4% to £11.28 billion from £21.03 billion in a year ago period.

Profit in the period tumbled 36.8% from a year ago to £545 million compared to £863 million and diluted earnings per share slumped to 12.7 pence from 24.6 pence.

Deutsche Telekom AG slipped 1.7% to €16.98 after the Germany-based telecom company said total revenues in the first-half ending in June climbed 14.2% to €34.27 billion or €30.01 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period plummeted 40.7% from a year ago to €1.50 billion compared to €2.53 billion and diluted earnings per share jumped to €0.33 from €0.57.

The company said T-Mobile U.S. lifted its forecast for new postpaid customers for the full-year to between 3.5 million and 3.9 million.

The T-Mobile is the third largest wireless carrier with a total number of subscribers reaching nearly 60 million.

Deutsche Post AG declined 3.3% to €16.98 after the Germany-based logistics services provider reported total revenues in the first-half ending in June jumped 8.1% to €29.47 billion or €27.26 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period declined 14.7% from a year ago to €821 million compared to €963 million and diluted earnings per share slipped to €0.68 from €0.80.

As of June 30, the company said net debt doubled to €2.99 billion from €1.50 billion in the period ending in December 2014.

Asian Markets

Nikkei average closed higher and more companies announce earnings. Mitsui & Company, one of the largest trading companies in Japan reported declining profit and earnings.

Softbank said quarterly revenues rose 10% and said estimating earnings outlook is difficult on several uncertainties.

In quiet trading, stocks in Tokyo closed higher and the yen eased as investors focused on earnings from Softbank, Dai Nippon, Mitsui and Suntory.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 50.38 or 0.2% to 20,664.44 and the broader Topix index gained 7.73 to 1,673.58.

The yen eased to 124.87 against a dollar.

Mitsui & Co Ltd jumped 3.9% to 1,645 yen after the trading company reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in June declined 6.3% to 1.28 trillion yen from 1.37 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter plunged 24.2% to 96.94 billion yen compared to 127.81 billion yen and diluted earnings per share dropped to 54.07 yen from 71.30 yen in the same period a year ago.

For the year the, Mitsui estimated net income of about 240 billion yen and earnings per share of about 133.89 yen.

Softbank Group Corp gained 1.9% to 7,140 yen after the mobile and internet services provider reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June climbed 9.8% to 2.14 trillion yen from 1.95 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 175.1% to 213.38 billion yen compared to 77.57 billion yen and diluted earnings per share jumped to 176.70 yen from 65.14 yen in the same period a year ago.

Softbank said it is difficult to provide forecasts at present due to number of “uncertain factors affecting the earnings.”

Separately, the largest telecoms group plans to buyback as much as 1.68% or 20 million of its own shares worth about 120 billion yen between August 7 and the end of fiscal year in March.

Market indexes in Mumbai traded higher and Employees Provident Fund Organization began investing in stock with market.

Banks led the gainers in the afternoon trading and Tata Power was in focus after the company said it plans to nearly triple its power generation capacity in the next seven year.

EPFO, the largest pension fund organization is initially going to invest in Exchange Traded Funds only. The pension fund will invest in the stock market for the first time.

Separately, pension funds may be able to invest more assets in stock market and the current limit of 5% of total investable assets is likely to be increased from the next fiscal year, according to Labour Minister Banadaru Dattatreya.

Rupee weakened 2 paisa to 63.77 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index rose 75.05 to close at 28,298.13. The CNX Nifty added 20.70 to 8,588.65.