Global Growth Concerns Pull Down Stocks
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, bringing the S&P 500 down from its latest record, as a deceleration in China’s exports had investors fretting about the health of the global economy.
Wall Street’s decline “is a reflection of what went on over in China; China’s exports dropped pretty startling, and the Chinese are again dropping the value of their currency, which has investors worrying about the global recovery,” said Chris Gaffney, a senior market strategist at EverBank.
China’s exports unexpectedly fell 18.1 percent last month versus expectations of a 6.8 percent climb.
In a speech at the Bank of France, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said harsh weather likely curbed jobs growth in February, with Plosser the latest central banker to express the view that recent softness in the labour market might be temporary.
The standoff that has Russia trying to take control of Crimea from Ukraine is another potential drag on the stock market. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that a planned Moscow-supported referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia violated Ukraine’s constitution.
Sunday was the five-year anniversary of the S&P’s 12-year low of 77.53, when the economy was in its worst recession in seven decades.
European markets closed mostly in the red. And Asian markets ended significantly lower after China trade data and revised Japanese GDP numbers came in weaker than expected.
Tuesday: 7:30 a.m.: NFIB survey, 10:00 a.m.: Wholesale trade, 10:00 a.m.: JOLTs job openings data, 01:00 p.m.: $30 billion three-year Treasury auction
News Sources: CNBC and CNN Money
Market Update:
With little U.S. economic or corporate news on the board today, investors kept an eye on the rest of the world to get a sense of where the market is headed.
The China numbers sparked a dip over in Asia overnight. But surprisingly, this US Bull Run hardly blinked. We are still in over bought territory now, but we just don’t know when a small decline will come to create a lower low after this meteoric rise from the beginning of February.