Dow drops 942 points as S&P, Nasdaq turn negative for October
Boeing to lay off about 7,000 as COVID-19 crimps business
Stocks sank on Wednesday as COVID-19 fears gripped investors across the globe as Germany and France announced new lockdown measures.
All three of the major averages saw the worst week since March with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down over 940 points or 3.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 declined more than 3.5%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are now negative for the month of October.
Oil slipped over 5% to the $37 per barrel level, registering its worst session since September. Gold traded down marginally to $1,876.20 an ounce, down 0.5%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 37775.38 | +22.07 | +0.06% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15601.498878 | -81.87 | -0.52% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5011.12 | -11.09 | -0.22% |
Dow members Microsoft and Chevron paced the drop along with Boeing after it announced it will be cutting workers as it reported its fourth straight quarterly loss as the pandemic continues to hurt business.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 170.23 | +0.02 | +0.01% |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 157.57 | +1.17 | +0.75% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 404.33 | -7.51 | -1.82% |
SECOND COVID-19 STOCKPILING WAVE COMING
Along with Europe, the U.S. is also seeing new coronavirus cases rise, hitting 68,967 on Tuesday, an all-time high, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins data.
Airlines sank on the developments.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 47.85 | -0.03 | -0.05% |
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 14.02 | +0.13 | +0.94% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 51.42 | +2.68 | +5.50% |
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. | 7.11 | +0.28 | +4.10% |
More than 8.7 million people in the U.S. have contracted COVID-19, resulting in more than 226,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.
EARNINGS BARRAGE
Wednesday saw a slew of earnings data from some of the world's biggest companies.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GE | GE AEROSPACE | 152.94 | -2.69 | -1.73% |
| UPS | UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC. | 142.74 | +0.49 | +0.34% |
General Electric reported better-than-expected results and said free cash flow would be at least $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter. The stock was one of the few bright spots in the down market.
UPS reported earnings of $2.28 a share on $21.2 billion in revenue. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.86 a share and $20.13 billion in sales.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MA | MASTERCARD INC. | 454.70 | -5.46 | -1.19% |
Mastercard fell after it said travel spending impacted its results. Visa, eBay and Ford will post results after the closing bell.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| V | VISA INC. | 271.36 | -1.32 | -0.49% |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 12.07 | +0.04 | +0.33% |
| EBAY | EBAY INC. | 49.95 | +0.50 | +1.01% |
Nearly 40% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported calendar third-quarter results, with more than 80% of them beating top- and bottom-line expectations.
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On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. reported better-than-expected results as well, but its outlook was weaker than anticipated, sending shares lower by about 2%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 404.33 | -7.51 | -1.82% |
TECH ON THE HILL
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FB | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| TWTR | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 155.97 | +0.50 | +0.32% |
The CEOs of some of the world's largest companies got grilled by U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Sundar Pichai, of Google parent Alphabet, took tough questions from the Senate Commerce Committee on how they deal with political content online.
FACEBOOK'S ZUCKERBERG NOT AWARE OF EMPLOYEE WHO WORKED FOR BIDEN
During the Section 230 hearing, Zuckerberg, during the Q&A, said he was "not aware" that a Facebook election integrity official used to work as a policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden.