|
 Biogen <BIIB.O> more than halved its revenue growth forecast for
2015 and its stock lost 22 percent to close just above $300.
Stocks in the energy and materials sectors weighed heavily on the
market after weaker-than-expected economic data from China and the
euro zone raised concerns about global growth. Oil prices hit their
lowest since March.
"You got underwhelming revenue growth on balance and then you layer
on top of that concern over a global economic slowdown, that becomes
self-fulfilling," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich
Securities in New York, said of the stock market weakness.
Amazon <AMZN.O> was the bright spot on Friday, rising more than 20
percent at one point and closing up 10 percent at $530.50. The
online retailer posted an unexpected quarterly profit and its market
cap ballooned to $247 billion, making it the tenth-largest U.S.
company by market value.
However, Amazon's spike highlighted the thinning of leadership in
the S&P 500. Gains on the index so far this year can be attributed
to Amazon and just three more companies.
At the close of trading on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average
<.DJI> fell 163.39 points, or 0.92 percent, to 17,568.53, the S&P
500 <.SPX> lost 22.5 points, or 1.07 percent, to 2,079.65 and the
Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 57.78 points, or 1.12 percent, to
5,088.63.
For the week, the S&P fell 2.2 percent and the Nasdaq slid 2.3
percent in their largest weekly drops since the last week of March.
The 2.9 percent fall on the Dow was the largest for any week since
January.
Selling in stocks accelerated after a report from the Wall Street
Journal said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will
propose nearly doubling the U.S. capital gains tax rate on
short-term investments.
[to top of second column] |
Second-quarter S&P 500 earnings have been mixed, with 74 percent of
companies beating analysts' profit expectations but just 52 percent
surpassing revenue expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Adding to the concerns regarding lukewarm earnings, the S&P 500 is
relatively expensive, trading at 16.9 times forward 12 months'
earnings, above the 10-year median of 14.7 times, according to
StarMine data.
Dow component Visa <V.N> ended up 4.3 percent at $74.80 after the
credit and debit card company's results handily beat expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,246 to
831, for a 2.70-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,144
issues fell and 660 advanced for a 3.25-to-1 ratio favoring
decliners.
The benchmark S&P 500 index posted 13 new 52-week highs and 54 new
lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 50 new highs and 200 new lows.
Some 7.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the
daily average of 6.6 billion so far this month.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
