• Dow    -137.55    16,374.31    -0.83%
• Nasdaq    -28.93  4,096.89    -0.70%
• S& P  -12.25    1,872.83    -0.65%

Retail havoc drives Dow down 138

Talk about an ugly day for retailers.

Investors took chips off the table on Tuesday as everyone from Staples to Urban Outfitters provided fresh evidence that Americans are spending less in brick-and-mortar stores.

The Dow Jones industrial average, S& P 500 and Nasdaq all closed solidly in the red. The Dow fell 138 points and landed at three-week lows. The S& P 500 was off 0.65% and the Nasdaq down 0.7%.

Here are the key talking points from today:

1. People aren' t shopping -- at least not at these stores

Traditional U.S. retailers are struggling. Office supply store Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500) slumped over 12% on lousy earnings and a warning that results in the current period are likely to fall short of expectations. That news also weighed on rival Office Depot (ODP, Fortune 500), which fell 6%.

Related: Staples stock plunges 13% on weak sales

2. Not so pretty looks at Target, Penney and Urban Outfitters

3. Burgers & spring cleaning

One of the lone positive retail stories today is Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), which rallied 2% after upgrading its outlook. The rosier view offset concerns over the home improvement retailer' s weak first-quarter profits and sales.

Maybe people really are doing their spring cleaning and summer repairs.

4. Remember momentum stocks?

5. Martial law in Thailand, mixed action overseas

While markets seem to be lacking any clear direction, the CNNMoney Fear & Greed index indicates that investors continue to feel fearful.

European markets closed mostly lower. Vodafone (VOD) shares slumped 5% following quarterly results. Credit Suisse (CS)rose 1% after the bank pleaded guilty to charges related to U.S. tax evasion. The Swiss lender agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle a long-running probe.

Asian markets ended the day on a positive note, though gains were small. Thailand' s stock market retreated 1.2% and the country' s currency dropped after the Thai army surprised the country by declaring martial law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1050 字 号 ： TT

Published May 20, 2014

 

Published May 20, 2014

 

Published May 20, 2014

 

我 有 话 说 字 号 ： TT

2014-05-20 08:40 来 源 ： 人 民 网 责 任 编 辑 ： 刘 洋

Most Asian stocks rose, with Japanese shares climbing from a one-month low, as nickel extended its advance. Thailand&rsquo s baht weakened after the army declared martial law, while bonds in the region followed Treasuries lower.

• Dow      +20.55  16,511.86  +0.12%
• Nasdaq    +35.23    4,125.82    +0.86%
• S& P  +7.22  1,885.08    +0.38%

Good day for tech stocks. Nasdaq up 0.9%

Wall Street had mergers on its mind Monday morning, but the story of the day turned out to be tech stocks, not TV. The blue chip indexes didn' t do much, but tech stocks rallied.

Here are the five things to know:

1. Investors a little more optimistic

The Dow and S& P 500 were flat for most of the day, but finished up modestly. The tech-heavy Nasdaq had the best start to the week, bouncing almost 0.90%. Even some beaten down social media stocks rebounded.

The latest reading from the CNNMoney Fear & Greed index indicates investors are still feeling fearful after stock markets hit fresh all-time highs last week but then slumped by the end of the week.

2. Monday' s major stock movers

There wasn' t much in terms of economic and earnings announcements Monday, but a few stocks were on the go.

3. Big Merger # 1- AT& T and DirecTV

Shares of DirecTV (DTV, Fortune 500) fell more than 1.75% after AT& T (T, Fortune 500) said Sunday that it had agreed to pay nearly $50 billion to acquire America' s biggest satellite television provider. Shares of AT& T also dipped almost 1%.

4. Merger # 2 - No love from the Brits on pharma deal

AstraZeneca' (AZN)shares plunged 11% in London after the board rejected yet another takeover bid from U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfize. (PFE, Fortune 500)Investors had pushed AstraZeneca stock higher as they hoped Pfizer would be able to woo the British firm, but the rejection of a fourth and " final" offer from Pfizer suggests the deal is dead in the water.

Pfizer shares rose roughly half a percentage point back in New York Monday.

5. World Markets mixed

European markets finished mixed.

Banking stocks, including Deutsche Bank (DB) and Barclays (BCS), slipped in Europe after Deutsche Bank announced it was raising roughly &euro 8 billion ($11 billion) from investors, including Qatar, to meet regulatory requirements.

Asian markets mostly ended with losses. However, the Mumbai Sensex index continued to rise as investors cheered the election of a new leader, Narendra Modi.