Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

U.S. stocks plunge, as trade deficit reaches highest level since 2008

Published 05/05/2015, 03:47 PM
Updated 05/05/2015, 04:28 PM
The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all fell by more than 0.75% on Tuesday

The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all fell by more than 0.75% on Tuesday

Investing.com -- Stocks on the U.S. equities markets slid on Tuesday, as the U.S. trade deficit in March soared to its highest level in more than six years increasing the possibility of GDP contraction in the first quarter of the year.

A sell-off in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and a decline among biotech stocks also weighed on all three indices, reversing gains from the prior two sessions. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 140 points while the NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index each dropped by more than 1% during a bearish day of trading.

The Dow lost 142.33 or 0.79% to 17,928.07 on Tuesday, while the NASDAQ fell 77.60 or 1.55% to 4,939.33, as it continued to retreat from 5,000. The S&P 500, meanwhile, lost 25.03 or 1.18% to 2,089.46, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Utilities, Telecommunications, and Technology sectors lagged, each falling by more than 1.5% on the session.

Shares in Walt Disney moved to an all-time high at 113.30, before dropping slightly at the close as investors locked in earlier profits. Earlier on Tuesday, Disney stocks moved higher after the multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate beat analysts' forecasts with its first quarter revenue. Speaking with CNBC on Tuesday morning, Disney CEO Bob Iger credited the strong quarter to the company's utilization of its intellectual property, its favorable price to value relationship and its excellent service to its customers.

Disney finished just below Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which gained 0.42 or 0.64% to 66.00 to end the session as the top performer on the Dow. The worst performer was Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 0.73 or 2.18% to 32.70 on the final day shareholders were eligible to receive the tech giant's next round of dividends. Owners of Intel shares at the end of trading on Tuesday were eligible for a 0.24 dividend, which provided a yield of 3% (ahead of the Dow average of 2.7%).

The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), which received an upgrade from Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) on Tuesday due to its rapidly growing portfolio. Netflix, whose target from Bank of America was raised from $350 to $722 a share, gained 10.65 or 1.92% to 565.55. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) also moved higher on the session, after analysts at Jeffries initiated it as a buy due to improvements in its gross margin and significant pent up demand. Last week, Tesla unveiled its home battery Powerwall at a cost of $3,500 per unit. Tesla rose 2.44 or 1.06% to 232.95.

The worst performer was Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), which fell 8.96 or 4.40% to 194.74. Shares in Baidu are still up more than 25% over the last 52 weeks.

On the S&P 500, the top performer was Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO), which gained 1.49 or 4.50% to 34.59. Shares in Transocean, Ensco and Noble were also broadly higher, as WTI crude futures moved above $60 a barrel for the first time since December. The worst performer was Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), which dropped 0.51 or 5.57% to 8.64. Shares in Genworth Financial are down by more than 50% over the last year.

Shares in Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) gained 4.24 or 5.92% to 75.84, after a Bloomberg report surfaced that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is mulling a bid to acquire the San Francisco-based Cloud computing company. Microsoft fell 0.64 or 1.33% to 47.60.

Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), Inc., News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) and Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) were scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the bell.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.