US close: Dow Jones suffers biggest single day loss since June
Posted on: 23 Oct 2012 by Polly York

US stocks were firmly in retreat on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones taking a plunge following weaker-than-expected earnings and ongoing concern over Spain and the wider economy.

The Dow Jones fell 243 points, its biggest one-day loss since June.

There was a bevy of weak company results out Stateside last night and earlier today. Chief amongst these has been chemicals maker DuPont, after which industrial conglomerate 3M and Xerox have lowered their earnings per share guidance for the year.

DuPont unveiled plans to slash 1,500 employees from its workforce after its most recent quarter delivered profit below expectations.

Results out of Texas Instruments, United Technologies and Regions Financial also came in below forecasts.

Also weighing on markets in today’s session may have been comments from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble regarding how his government will not back any aid for Greece that it might deem unsustainable. Likewise, weak data out today in France is thought to be a factor behind the more negative market tone, as was the negative market chatter surrounding Spain and the Eurozone periphery more generally.

The US dollar was performing well, as is to be expected, with the ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, climbed from 79.653 late Monday to 79.964 on Tuesday evening.

It was not all is bad news however, at least on the corporate front, amongst the exceptions out there today were Coach, Lexmark, Whirlpool, Harley Davidson and Yahoo – shares in which rose 5% after the close of trading last night.

In M&A news, retailer Target has announced that it is to sell a $5.9bn credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group.

RBC is to acquire Ally Canadian for $4.1bn.

Apple launched its new mini iPad in the evening, with prices starting at $329. The product is set to run rival to Google’s Android tablets and Amazon’s Kindle.

Waiting on the Fed

The Federal Open Market Committee today began a two day policy meeting.

The Richmond Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index for the month of October has come in at -7, versus 4 for the month before (Consensus: 5).

Same-store retail chain sales fell by 1.7% last month.

NYMEX futures drop sharply

10-year US Treasuries are now rising by 17.5/32 dollars, with yields at the 1.75% mark.

Front month West Texas crude futures settled at $92.07 per barrel level on NYMEX.

S&P 500 – Risers
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $93.81 +8.69%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $46.89 +7.72%
Coach Inc. (COH) $58.15 +7.35%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $16.67 +5.71%
Ryder System Inc. (R) $45.83 +5.53%
Lexmark International Inc. (LXK) $22.52 +4.02%
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $73.73 +3.03%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $12.33 +3.01%
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $82.65 +2.90%
Airgas Inc. (ARG) $83.89 +2.83%

S&P 500 – Fallers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $41.08 -10.17%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $45.25 -9.06%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $6.54 -7.63%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $38.64 -5.50%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $6.70 -4.69%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $9.05 -4.54%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $36.42 -4.46%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $21.90 -4.41%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $36.77 -4.22%
3M Co. (MMM) $88.73 -4.11%

Dow Jones I.A – Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.59 +0.61%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $28.04 +0.14%

Dow Jones I.A – Fallers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $45.25 -9.06%
3M Co. (MMM) $88.73 -4.11%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $8.78 -3.52%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $14.26 -3.06%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.38 -2.98%
American Express Co. (AXP) $55.38 -2.40%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $90.18 -2.18%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $50.76 -1.99%
General Electric Co. (GE) $21.29 -1.89%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $9.37 -1.88%

Nasdaq 100 – Risers
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $16.67 +5.71%
Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) $34.13 +3.83%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $12.33 +3.01%
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $82.65 +2.90%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $36.30 +2.75%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $53.69 +2.54%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $7.62 +2.15%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $60.69 +2.03%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $60.98 +1.89%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $61.35 +1.71%

Nasdaq 100 – Fallers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $41.08 -10.17%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $117.61 -4.09%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $28.77 -3.78%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $613.36 -3.26%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $100.94 -2.97%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $53.70 -2.81%
News Corp. Class A (NWSA) $24.10 -2.55%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $9.35 -2.50%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $58.93 -2.40%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $12.75 -2.30%

NR

Tags: bank group | dollar index | earnings per share | german finance minister | harley davidson | industrial conglomerate | market tone | regions financial | target | united technologies