U.S. stocks posted their second consecutive day of declines led by massive declines in the technology sector. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) posted disappointing quarterly results or outlooks for the future, sending the market into a massive selloff in the technology sector. Apple is currently the largest publicly traded company, making its impact on indexes significant. While all three major indexes declined, the financial and construction sectors were on the rise as a report released yesterday indicated that U.S. home sales have surged to their fastest pace in the last eight years. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 68.25 points (0.4%) to trade at 17,851.04, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index fell 5.06 points (0.2%) to trade at 2,114.15 and the Nasdaq composite fell 36.35 points (0.7%) as components of the tech-heavy index faced selloffs. Despite these declines, the Nasdaq remains the top-performing index this year with a 9.2% climb so far.
The dollar remained strong as expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in September grew and a better than expected U.S. home sales report lifted the greenback. The dollar 0.1% against the yen and is currently trading at 124.05 yen after hitting an overnight low of 123.27. The euro remained relatively flat, trading at $1.0936 after hitting an overnight high of $1.0966.
In Europe, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is still struggling to maintain the forward momentum towards a bailout. Tsipras contained a rebellion in his own Syriza party in order to pass certain reforms that are required by creditors in order to secure an 86 billion euro loan that allow the country to pay off its debts. European shares have followed Wall Street by posting declines yesterday as well. The UK’s FTSE fell 1.6% as major miners Anglo American (LONDON:AAL), BHP Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Glencore (LONDON:GLEN) 4.1-4.7%. The German DAX declined 0.9% as Infineon Technologies AG NA O.N. (LONDON:0KED) falls 4.3% while major car exporters Daimler (LONDON:0NXX), BMW (XETRA:BMWG) and Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) fall 1.5-1.9%. The French CAC 40 fell 0.6% as three-quarters of its components show declines.
Canadian and UK retail sales reports will be released later today, followed by crude oil stockpile reports, which can possibly impact declining oil prices. Eurozone manufacturing PMI data will be released tomorrow, followed by U.S manufacturing and new home sales data.