Dow slips to two-year low as bond yields jump


FE Team | Published: February 03, 2018 11:06:49 | Updated: February 07, 2018 09:58:01


File Photo (Collected)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped on Friday, swooning almost 666 points, for its biggest daily percentage loss in 20 months.

It was the biggest daily point fall in the Dow since December 2008 during the financial crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 665.75 points, or 2.54 per cent, to 25,520.96, the S&P 500 lost 59.85 points, or 2.12 per cent, to 2,762.13 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 144.92 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 7,240.95, reports Reuters.

S&P 500 e-mini stock futures EScv1 extended losses after 4:00 pm ET close in the cash market. S&P 500 futures closed down 2.3 per cent, the biggest daily percentage drop since September 2016.

All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 closed down. Technology weighed the heaviest, with Microsoft pulling the sector down 3.0 per cent.

The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, the most widely followed barometer of expected near-term volatility for the S&P 500 Index rose more than four points to 17.86, its highest since November 2016.

Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp shares were down 5.1 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively, after the oil companies posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.

Alphabet fell 5.3 per cent after the Google parent’s fourth-quarter profit came in below consensus on increased spending.

Apple shares were off by 4.3 per cent as investors worried about the iPhone maker’s weak outlook amid reports of scaled back iPhone X production.

Amazon.com was a bright spot, up 2.9 per cent as Wall Street analysts quickly upped their price targets following the online retailer’s impressive earnings report.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 7.70-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.90-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 18 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 103 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 5.39 billion shares, compared to the 7.33 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

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