Stocks opened deep in negative territory and have remained there throughout the morning. After yesterday’s feverish rally, which saw the Dow post its best single day performance in terms of points, the market lost half of its gains by the end of the first hour of trading. The averages have cut their earlier losses, but remain solidly in the red near midday.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 216,000 in the week ended December 22. The FHFA home price index rose 0.3% to 267.9 in October. A reading of consumer confidence fell 8.3 points to 128.1 in December. The Census Bureau did not release the new home sales report due to the government shutdown.
COMPANY NEWS: Apple (AAPL) supplier Foxconn (HNHPF) may start making higher end iPhones in a plant in India in 2019 through its local unit, according to a Reuters report. It would mark the first time the manufacturer will have built the product in the country, the report noted.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Energous (WATT), which jumped 70% after the company announced that WattUp-enabled personal sound amplification products from Delight, in partnership with SK Telesys, are now certified to be marketed and sold in the United States. Also higher was JD.com (JD), which gained 1% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is restructuring its operations with JD Mall, the company's main revenue-generating unit, being divided into three business departments.
Among the notable losers was Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI), which slid 10% after the company announced that it submitted a Biologics License Application, or BLA, with the FDA for Rolontis. Also lower was AMD(AMD), which declined 6% after RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves lowered his FY19 revenue forecast to reflect his observation of a reduction in average selling prices for GPUs of both AMD and Nvidia (NVDA) in the secondary market.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 381.40, or 1.67%, to 22,497.05, the Nasdaq lost 140.12, or 2.14%, to 6,414.24, and the S&P 500 declined 42.43, or 1.72%, to 2,425.27.
Apple
-4.73 (-3.01%)
Hon Hai Precision
+ (+0.00%)
JD.com
+0.37 (+1.75%)
Spectrum
-0.985 (-10.36%)
AMD
-0.905 (-5.06%)
Nvidia
-5.32 (-4.00%)
Energous
+3.23 (+70.68%)