USA stocks are wobbling Tuesday morning as global markets stabilize a day after a plunge in China unsettled investors worldwide.
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Others are anxious about geopolitical instability in the Middle East, especially from ISIS and rising tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the USA benchmark for oil prices, fell 0.81 percent to $36.74 per barrel for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones industrial average, a closely watched benchmark of 30 blue-chip stocks, tumbled by almost 400 points Monday, before bouncing back some to close down 1.6 percent. The S&P 500 gained four points, or 0.2%, to 2017 but the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12 points, or 0.2%, to 4891. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.1 percent. Shanghai’s stock index plunged almost 7 percent on Monday, sparking a halt in trading of Chinese shares, after weak manufacturing data and Middle East tensions weighed on Asian markets. Gilead added $1.73, or 1.8 percent, to $99.75, recovering some of its loss from Monday.
Overseas markets fell even more. But analysts and investors say the circuit breaker could trigger more selling, as the freeze spooks investors and losses snowball, setting off the halt all over again.
The retreat comes after the S&P 500 fell 0.7% in 2014, its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis. According to Bespoke Investment Group analysts, since the SPY (SPY) began trading in 1994, the ETF has only opened lower on the first trading day of the year twice in 22 years, and it has never opened lower by more than 1%.
WALL STREET: U.S. markets finished 2015 lower on Thursday. A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing contracted last month at the fastest pace in more than six years as factories cut jobs and new orders shrank.
Commercial real estate stocks saw substantial strength, however, with the Morgan Stanley REIT Index jumping by 2 percent.
Given earlier economic uncertainty in China, Legg Mason had already “dialed up” discussions a year ago about how to position portfolios, spokeswoman Mary K. Athridge said in an email.
For one, a key gauge of Chinese manufacturing continued to show the industrial sector contracting, the 10th straight month of shrinkage. The world’s largest oil supplier executed a prominent Shiite cleric that prompted protesters to set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and Iran’s top leader to criticize Saudi Arabia. It traded over $38 a barrel earlier in the day.
Energy companies in the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent Monday, the smallest decline among the main industries after posting the biggest drop a year ago, down almost 24 percent. Brent crude, the global standard, fell 79 cents, or 2 percent, to $36.41 a barrel in London. Amazon gave up $42.64, or 6 percent, to $633.05 and Netflix sank $5.44, or 5 percent, to $108.90.
CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 118.66 yen from 119.13 yen in the previous day’s trading. Baldanza helped make Spirit into an “ultra-low cost carrier” with low prices and fees for everything from snacks, seat assignments, and space in overhead bins. The euro strengthened to $1.0766 from $1.0744.
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The U.S. economy also has taken a hit: Its exports to China fell 4 percent in the first 10 months of past year compared with the same period in 2014.
