Stocks began the session deep in negative territory and saw little in the way of buying throughout the day. Amid the weakness, led by the “FAANG” stocks, the Nasdaq fell below 7,000 and into correction territory while continued weakness in Apple (AAPL) pushed the iPhone maker's shares into bear market territory. The White House offered little comfort after saying “corrections come and go.” Oil prices fell to their 52-week low with losses of nearly 7% as WTI struggled to stay above $53 a barrel.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts improved 1.5% to a 1.228M rate in October, which was generally as expected. Building permits dipped 0.6% to a 1.263M rate in October. West Texas Intermediate crude for January dropped $3.77, or 6.6%, to settle at $53.43 a barrel, marking the lowest front-month contract settlement in over a year.
COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Target (TGT) declined 10.5% following the company's report of third quarter sales that matched estimates and earnings that missed the consensus forecast. Target said it expects same-store sales growth of about 5% in the critical holiday quarter...
Best Buy (BBY) shares rose 2% after the electronics seller reported Q3 earnings per share and revenue that both topped consensus forecasts. Additionally, the company raised its FY19 EPS view to $5.09-$5.19 from $4.95-$5.10.
Meanwhile, Boston Scientific (BSX) shares slipped 3.5% after the company announced an agreement to acquire BTG for $4.2B. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of Boston Scientific and BTG, the company said.
Additionally, shares of Navient (NAVI) dropped 4% after the Associated Press reported that a 2017 audit done by the U.S. Department of Education appears to support federal and state lawsuits that accuse Navient of boosting its profits by steering some borrowers into the high-cost plans without discussing options that would have been less costly in the long run.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Campbell Soup (CPB), which rose 5.5% after it reported better than expected first quarter results and maintained its fiscal 2019 guidance. Also higher after reporting quarterly results were Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) and Agilent (A), which gained a respective 7% and 8%.
Among the notable losers was LivaNova (LIVN), which dropped 18% after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last night issued its proposed coverage decision for vagus nerve stimulation to treat treatment-resistant depression. Also lower was L Brands (LB), which fell 18% after reporting quarterly results and announcing it will cut its dividend in half.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 551.80, or 2.21%, to 24,465.64, the Nasdaq lost 119.65, or 1.7%, to 6,908.82 , and the S&P 500 declined 48.84, or 1.82%, to 2,641.89.
Target
-8.08 (-10.48%)
Best Buy
+1.35 (+2.17%)
Campbell Soup
+2.1 (+5.46%)
Kulicke & Soffa
+1.345 (+6.76%)
Agilent
+5.04 (+8.06%)
LivaNova
-22.28 (-18.52%)
L Brands
-6.105 (-17.68%)
Apple
-8.7 (-4.68%)
Boston Scientific
-1.24 (-3.51%)
Navient
-1.255 (-10.47%)