Stock Market News For Sep 18, 2019

Benchmarks closed in the positive territory on Tuesday as crude oil prices dropped as impact on Saudi Aramco’s attack faded. Investors also patiently waited for an anticipated Fed interest rate cut on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.1% or 33.98 points to close at 27, 110.80. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to close at 3,005.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 8,186.02, adding 0.4%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 1.6% to close at 14.44. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.03-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.18-to-1 ratio favored decliners issues.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The S&P energy index plunged 1.6% after its strongest one-day surge on Monday. Out of all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 six sectors rose and five fell. The consumer staples, utilities and real estate sectors posted biggest gains among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.

The major indexes ended in positive but were striking distance away from record highs. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 1 new low, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 49 new highs and 22 new lows.

Crude Price Plunged

On Sep 16, crude oil prices soared more than 14% after the attack on two of Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities, recording the biggest one-day gain since December 2008. But, on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announcement that 50% of the production loss due to the attack has been restored, pushed oil prices downwards. Per a Wall Street Journal report ‘the facility is already supplying customers at pre-attack levels.’

In fact, the Prince announced that the country’s oil supply would be back online by the end of the month. After the news, crude oil prices dropped more than 5% on Tuesday. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $59.34 a barrel dropping 5.7%, while the international benchmark Brent crude settled at $64.55 a barrel after shedding 6.5%.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) that carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) shed 0.8%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Healthy Economic Report and Fed Rate Cut Expectation

The U.S. industrial production climbed 0.6% in August. As per the Federal Reserve report this is the largest increase this year, and beats the consensus expectation of a 0.4% increase. The rise was a result of surge in mining output, which includes oil and gas production. Mining alone jumped 1.4%, reversing its prior month decline of 1.5%. The utilities output also rose0.6%.

The capacity utilization climbed to 77.9%, beating expectations of 77.6%, this parameter reflects the limits to operating the nation’s factories, mines and utilities. This is the highest rate since March. Additionally, on Tuesday the National Association of Home Builders’ monthly confidence index in September rose one point to 68. The data matched the highest reading in a year.

The investors however are patiently waiting for the Fed’s rate-setting committee to deliver an update to monetary policy and lower interest rates by a quarter point as the meeting concludes on Wednesday.

Stocks That Made Headline

FedEx Down 10% on Q1 Earnings Miss & Dull FY2020 View

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) reported lower-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2020 (ended Aug 31, 2019) results on account of weak global economy due to escalating trade tensions, and higher costs (incurred $71 million TNT Express integration expenses). (Read More)

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