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Wall Street Lower Following Another Choppy Session
07-Feb-18 16:30 ET
Dow -19.42 at 24893.35, Nasdaq -63.90 at 7051.98, S&P -13.48 at 2681.66

https://www.briefing.com/investor/markets/stock-market-update/2018/2/7/wall-street-lower-following-another-choppy-session.htm

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks endured another choppy trading session on Wednesday, settling in negative territory at their worst marks of the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, but settled ahead of the other major indices as the price-weighted average's most influential component--Boeing (BA 348.12, +7.21)--jumped 2.1%.

The aerospace giant was helped by news from Washington, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have agreed to a budget deal that would lift spending caps and raise defense and non-defense spending by approximately $160 billion and $130 billion, respectively, over the next two years.

However, it's unclear if the bill has enough support to pass in the House, where the House Freedom Caucus might protest the spending increase, forcing Republicans to lean on Democratic support. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has vowed to oppose a spending deal unless she is guaranteed a vote on immigration.

The S&P 500 lost 0.5% on Wednesday, with just three of its eleven sectors settling in the green--industrials (+0.3%), financials (+0.2%), and telecom services (+0.3%). The consumer discretionary sector (-0.3%) finished in the red, but outpaced the the broader market, with Hasbro (HAS 102.22, +8.29) setting the pace; the toymaker spiked 8.8% to a six-month high after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

In other earnings news, Snap (SNAP 20.75, +6.69) surged 47.6%, hitting an eight-month high, after reporting better-than-expected earnings, revenues, and daily active users (DAUs). Conversely, Walt Disney (DIS 104.76, -1.41) dropped 1.3% despite beating profit estimates, and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 272.21, -32.12) tumbled 10.6% after its quarterly results showed a decline in customers--likely due to multiple instances of food poisoning over the last couple of years.

In other corporate news, Wynn Resorts (WYNN 177.32, +14.10) rallied 8.6% after Steve Wynn resigned from his position as CEO following reports of sexual misconduct.

At the opposite end of the sector standings, the top-weighted technology sector (-1.4%) struggled on Wednesday, with heavyweights like Apple (AAPL 159.54, -3.49), Microsoft (MSFT 89.61, -1.72), Facebook (FB 180.18, -5.13), and Alphabet (GOOGL 1055.41, -29.02) losing between 1.9% and 2.8%. Chipmakers also weighed on the tech sector, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lower by 2.2%.

Unsurprisingly, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was the weakest of the three major indices, settling with a loss of 0.9%.

The only sector to finish behind technology was the energy group, which lost 1.7% as crude oil tumbled for the fourth session in a row; West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 2.5% to $61.80 per barrel, hitting a one-month low. The commodity suffered amid a strengthening U.S. dollar--the U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.8% to 90.23--and following the government's weekly crude inventory report, which showed that U.S. crude stockpiles increased 1.9 million barrels last week.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries were under heavy pressure, pushing the benchmark 10-yr yield highePublic Replyr by seven basis to 2.84%; the 10-yr yield now trades just one basis point below the three-year high it hit last Friday. Meanwhile, the 2-yr yield also climbed on Wednesday, jumping four basis points to 2.13%.

Trading was volatile once again today, with the S&P 500 fluctuating between 2681.66 (-0.5%) and 2727.67 (+1.2%)--a 46-point range.

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data, which was limited to December Consumer Credit and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index:

The Consumer Credit report for December showed an increase of $18.4 billion (Briefing.com consensus $20.0 billion). November credit growth was revised to $31.0 billion from $28.0 billion.
The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 0.7% to follow last week's 2.6% decline.

On Thursday, investors will receive the weekly Initial Claims report (Briefing.com consensus 234K) at 8:30 AM ET.

Nasdaq Composite: +2.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.7% YTD
S&P 500: +0.3% YTD
Russell 2000: -1.8% YTD