USA stock futures indicate investors remain wary of a top in the market amid slumping oil prices and upbeat economic figures that aren’t as upbeat as investors would like.
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The four-week progress in global stocks begun to weaken as oil prices retreated 22 percent since June, supporting concerns against the global economy with European lenders undergoing scrutiny over their balance sheets’ capability.
At around 10:20 a.m. ET the Nasdaq composite, S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average were down 0.6%, 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 6 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,167.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 57.39 points, or 1.11 percent, at 5,126.81.
However, personal income rose only 0.2 percent, missing estimates of 0.3 percent, while inflation remained below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. Its stock jumped $16.64, or 38.7 percent, to $59.60 and Verizon fell 56 cents, or 1 percent, to $54.85. Tesla was down 0.3 percent at $234.00.
US real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016, well below market consensus of 2.6 percent, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Commerce Department.
The S&P 500 had hit a record high earlier in the session, but was unable to hold gains as USA crude CLc1 slumped to below $40 a barrel, its lowest level since April, before settling at $40.06.
Earnings are now expected to decline 3 percent for the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, an improvement from the 4.5 percent decline expected on July 1. Fleetmatics makes software that cable companies, energy companies and others use to manage vehicle fleets.
Biogen shares rose 9.4%, their biggest one-day percentage gain in 2016, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company had drawn takeover interest from drug companies including Merck and Allergan. The Nasdaq rose last week while the other major indexes fell. The dollar edged up to 102.29 yen from 102.03 yen. Google parent Alphabet Inc was up 1.5 per cent at $803.04.
OVERSEAS: Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent while Germany’s DAX fell 0.5 percent. The CAC-40 in France was 0.9 percent lower. The euro fell to $1.1170 from $1.1179. Earnings for the second quarter are expected to show a decline of 2.6 percent, an improvement from the expected 4.5 percent decline on July 1.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index gained 0.4 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.1 percent.
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A bright spot on the markets was NY gold for December delivery which settled up 0.9% at US$1372 an ounce.
