Stocks opened lower and worsened from there, adding to this month's already dismal performance. Stocks are having their worst December ever as a Santa Claus rally has not materialized and the market is now at its lowest level since August 2017. The government remains shut down and there has been no indication of a vote on funding for a border wall to resolve the impasse. Meanwhile, a call from the Secretary of the Treasury to the heads of the nation's big banks only made investors feel more on edge.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in statement yesterday that he convened individual calls with the CEOs of Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Wells Fargo (WFC) and that the executives confirmed each bank has "ample liquidity available for lending to consumer, business markets, and all other market operations." Mnuchin also confirmed the banks have "not experienced any clearance or margin issues and that the markets continue to function properly." A senior Treasury official subsequently told CNBC that the Treasury Department had no concerns about liquidity "whatsoever" when Mnuchin made the calls yesterday to the heads of the six largest U.S. banks, stating that the calls were intended to be a check-in on the Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, government shutdown, trade and the markets.
In terms of economic data, the Chicago Fed national activity index rose to 0.22 in November after falling to unchanged in October.
COMPANY NEWS: Kohl's (KSS) and Target (TGT) were among the small number of S&P 500 stocks that had winning sessions after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing MasterCard SpendingPulse data, that total U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, are up 5.2% from November 1 through December 19.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Mindbody (MB), which surged 65% to close at $35.83 after announcing a deal to be taken private by Vista Equity Partners for $1.9B, or $36.50 in cash per share.
Among the notable losers was Campbell Soup (CPB), which slid 6.5% after Reuters said, citing people familiar with the matter, that the company could fetch close to $3B for its international business based on the first-round bids received. Also lower was Mattel (MAT), which declined 3.1% after Canadian rival Spin Master (SNMSF) announced late Friday that it had it has entered into a three-year global licensing agreement with AT&T's (T) Warner Bros. for DC Universe toys.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 653.17, or 2.9%, to 21,792.20, the Nasdaq lost 335.49, or 5.14%, to 6,192.92, and the S&P 500 declined 53.88, or 2.23%, to 2,362.74.
Kohl's
+0.58 (+0.98%)
Target
+0.64 (+1.05%)
Acquired by Vista Equity Partners
+14.27 (+65.61%)
Campbell Soup
-2.525 (-7.05%)
Mattel
-0.31 (-3.24%)
Spin Master
+ (+0.00%)