US stocks close firmly down
Goldman Sachs results weigh
Investors mull UK election
US benchmarks closed lower on Tuesday with banking titan Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) sagging over 4% as its first quarter numbers missed estimates.
The market is also mulling the UK General Election called today and set for six weeks' time against the backdrop of the start of Brexit negotiations. In London , FTSE 100 closed down 2.46%.
In the US, the Dow Jones finished 113 lower at 20,523. The Nasdaq closed over seven down at 5,849.
The S&P500 shed 6.82 at 2,342.
In Canada, the largest market also turned south Tuesday pulled down by oil and health-care stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed over 62 down at 15,622.
Back to Wall Street and ten biggest laggard on S&P500 was Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) down 11.54% to $72.39 after it updated on its 2017 earnings guidance.
The company expects non-GAAP EPS to come in at the low end of its previous range of $5.35 to $5.50 thanks mainly to lower prices for generic drugs.
MID-SESSION
Shares on Wall Street were still lower at mid-session as traders digested the news of the snap UK election.
Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister, is calling the vote for June 8 this year- almost a year after the Brexit vote in a bid to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations.
The Dow Jones is down 119 at the time of writing at 20.517. The broader based S&P500 is over seven points down at 2,341 and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is down 12 at 5,844. Against the US dollar, the UK pound is surging, up 2.24%.
US crude is also down 0.08% to US$52.62.
Laith Khalaf, at London based broker Hargreaves Lansdown had these words for investors earlier: " The EU referendum provides a clear blueprint for why investors shouldn’t shape their portfolios according to proceedings at the ballot box.
"Not only was the result of the vote a surprise, the effects on financial markets were too, so investors would be best served by keeping politics out of their portfolios."
There are wider issues in play too at the moment at the time of great global uncertainty.
The standoff between the US and North Korea is in the background as is the French presidential election - the first round of which gets underway this weekend.
In equities, a notable gainer was Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NYSE: IDXG), which added over 28% as it reported the coverage of ThyraMIR with UnitedHealthcare.
Motif Bio Plc (LON: MTFB, NASDAQ:MTFB) hailed as a “significant achievement” the successful completion of a phase III clinical trial of its next-generation antibiotic, iclaprim.
The REVIVE-1 global study assessed the drug’s ability to treat patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). Shares in the firm raced up
Shares in New York added 15.81% to $8.31.
OPEN
US stocks followed the negative trend at the open as traders mulled over disappointing numbers from US behemoth bank Goldman and considering the forthcoming UK General Election.
Theresa May has stunned markets with a snap election after last year’s Brexit vote, which has now triggered two years of negotiations with the EU bloc.
Goldman's earnings in the first quarter missed analysts' expectations as its stalwart trading business suffered a challenging climate. Shares are down over 4% to $216.85 at the time of writing.
On Wall Street, the benchmark Dow is lagging 99 points at 20,535; the Nasdaq is almost 17 points lower at 5,840, while the S&P500 is down over seven points at 2,341.
US crude (West Texas Intermediate) turned higher from earlier, and added 0.11% to stand at $52.71 a barrel.
In Toronto, the biggest index - the S&P/ TSX Composite - shed over 39 points in early deals to stand at 15,645 as oil prices weighed on energy stocks.
In New York, on Nasdaq the biggest gainer was Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ:IDXG) up over 78%.
PREVIEW
US stocks are poised for a lower start after yesterday's gains as the UK Premier called for a snap general election for June 8.
FTSE 100 is down over 122 points at the time of writing as the market expects volatility in coming weeks.
On Wall Street the Dow Jones futures are 32 lower; the S&P500 futures are off five points, while the Nasdaq futures are down 9.25.
US crude oil is down 0.725 at the time of writing, while the UK pound stands at 0.8% up against the US dollar.
Wall Street was open on Monday while the London market was not and shares in the US ended sharply higher as traders digested good Chinese growth figures
It was the biggest gain on Wall Street for six weeks with the big banks and financial stocks doing well.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index closed 183 points higher at $20.636; while the S&P500 gained 20 points to 2,349. The Nasdaq added 51,64 at 5,856.
Today sees another day of US earnings, as Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs step up this week. In pre-market deals, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) shares lost 2.88% to $219.75
It comes after Goldman reported first-quarter earnings today that missed expectations as trading revenue disappointed.