Stock Market News For November 02, 2016

Benchmarks finished in the red on Tuesday following growing concerns over the U.S. Presidential election and Fed’s two-day policy meeting. Investors also digested manufacturing data and latest earnings results. All the three key U.S. indexes fell yesterday with the S&P 500 reached its lowest settlement since July 7. The Dow and Nasdaq finished at their lowest level since Sep 14 and Sep 9, respectively. Also, the CBOE Volatility Index closed at its highest level since June.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) decreased 0.6%, to close at 18,037.10. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to close at 2,111.72. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,153.58, also losing 0.7%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 8.8% to settle at 18.56. A total of around 235,860,001 shares were traded on Tuesday on the NYSE. Decliners significantly outpaced advancing stocks on the NYSE. For 74% stocks that declined, 24% advanced.

What Weighed On the Benchmarks?

News that the FBI was probing Hillary Clinton’s new emails last week continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Previously, poll results have showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by several points. However, as per the recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, Trump leads Ms. Clinton by a point. Also, RealClearPolitics poll results showed that Clinton’s lead over Trump had narrowed from previous 7 points to 2.2 points.

Investors also kept a close watch on Fed’s two-day policy meeting which started on Tuesday. Although it is expected that the Fed will not raise rates in this meeting ahead of the presidential election next week, investors looked for hints about December rate hike prospects. Sectors that are expected to get affected by higher rates performed weakly yesterday.

The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) fell 1.8% and was the second biggest decliner among the S&P 500 sectors. Some of its key holdings including NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), Inc. (NEE) and Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) ( DUK) dropped 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively. Both the companies possess a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .

Additionally, the telecom services sector in the S&P 500 decreased 1%. Key components from this sector including CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL), Inc. ( CTL) and Level 3 Communications, Inc. (LVLT) fell 6.1% and 3.4%, respectively.

Economic Data On Focus

In economic news, the ISM manufacturing index rose to 51.9 in October from 51.5 in September, signaling an expansion in overall factory growth. Although manufacturing data was encouraging, it intensified rate hike worries.

Meanwhile, construction spending was down for the second straight month in September following decline in private nonresidential spending. According to the Commerce Department, U.S. construction spending declined 0.4% in September, registering its first year-over-year fall since July 2011. Further, private nonresidential spending slumped 1% in September, posting its largest drop in nine months.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Reports Weak Earnings

Pfizer Inc.’s (PFE) shares fell 2% after its third-quarter adjusted earnings per share and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimates. (Read More: Pfizer Q3 Earnings Lag; Cuts View, Sheds Bococizumab )

Stocks That Made Headlines

Big 5 Sporting Stock Up on Q3 Earnings & Sales Beat

Shares of Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. (BGFV) climbed 4.4% in after-hours trading on Nov 2, after the company reported better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results for third-quarter. ( Read More)

Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FTR) Reports In-Line Loss in Q3

Frontier Communications Corp. (FTR) reported mixed financial results in the third quarter. (Read More)

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Q3 Earnings Top; Dips as CEO to Step Down

Despite a sales miss, Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) reported better-than-expected third-quarter 2016 earnings and also raised its full-year earnings view. ( Read More)

Clorox Q1 Earnings Miss; Updates View; Stock Dips

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) (CLX) released first-quarter fiscal 2017 results, wherein the bottom line marked its second consecutive miss. (Read More)

Western Union Posts In-Line Q3 Earnings, Tweaks View

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) (WU) reported third-quarter operating earnings per share, which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. ( Read More)

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