US stocks collapse into close
TSX down 196pts
Dow Jones down over 1,000pts
US benchmarks were on a knife edge into the close.
The Dow Jones was poised for its worst one-day point drop ever, as the selloff took on characteristics of panic, according to commentators.
The Dow is down over 1,000 points at the time of writing, at 24,517.
The S&P 500 is off over 94 at 2,667, while the Nasdaq shed over 215 points at 7,024.
“NEW YORK — President Donald Trump is learning a basic and painful lesson of Wall Street: Stocks also go down” https://t.co/wHAnMCVd7f
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) 5 February 2018
In Toronto, the TSX is off over 196 points at 15,409.
Craig Erlam at Oanda, said: "With this being the second consecutive session in which we’ve had heavy selling, traders are looking for reasons for the decline and whether further downside is to come.
"Higher yields on the expectation that interest rates will rise faster than expected has been blamed until now and could be responsible for what will hopefully prove to be a brief and healthy correction.
"Still, this is unlikely to be what Jerome Powell was hoping when he started his tenure as Fed Chair and already people are asking questions about whether investors were getting ahead of themselves in expecting three or more rate hikes this year.
"Once the dust settles we’ll surely have a much better idea of whether higher rate expectations are truly to blame for these suddenly shaky markets and a storming return for volatility."
MID-SESSION
US stocks were still taking a thrashing at mid-session with the Dow Jones down 373 points at 25,147.
The S&P 500 was also down, off 35 at 2,726.
The tech heavy Nasdaq was down 64 points at 7,175, while in Toronto, the TSX plunged over 83 at 15,522.
On Friday, the Dow crashed 666 points lower to cement a loss of more than a thousand points on the week.
It ended up at 25,521, down 1,095 points on the week, marking its biggest weekly points fall since October 2008.
In stocks today, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) was a notable casualty, as the bank plunged 8.21% to US$58.81 after the firm was sent to the naughty step by the Federal Reserve.
The Central bank said that until the scandal-hit bank cleans up its act, it would not be able to boost its total assets beyond the level they were at on December 31, 2017 (around US$1,950bn), without the Fed's say-so.
The central bank's action is unprecedented and essentially prevents Wells Fargo from writing new loans.
Elsewhere, Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:EYEG) shed almost 43% to US$0.58 as it revealed t6hat candidate EGP-473 did not meet co-primary endpoints.
On the gaining side, TOP SHIPS Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) added over 48% to US$0.30 following its full year 2017 results, which were announced late Friday. The company posted a net loss of US$13.4 million on sales, which reached US$39.363mln.
OPEN
US benchmarks started lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones tanking over 240 points at 25,277.
The broader based S&P 500 is down over 20 points at 2,742.
The tech heavy Nasdaq index is down almost 47 points at 7,193.
US crude - West Texas Intermediate - is down 0.46% to US$65.15 a barrel.
Jerome Powell sworn in as Fed chief https://t.co/K4BQwFVWj9 pic.twitter.com/BsrXgJzOgc
— Bloomberg (@business) 5 February 2018
Any moment the US will announce the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing manager’s index, and the consensus is for 56.5 points, up from 56 in December, so this may well be a catalyst for markets, either way.
Janet Yellen has now departed as Fed chair and Jerome Powell has been sworn in during a private ceremony..
In a brief video statement, Powell noted that unemployment inflation was low and the economy was growing.
"Through our decisions on monetary policy, we will support continued economic growth, a healthy job market and price stability,” he said.