Stocks fall on budget fight concerns; Apple jumps
In this Sept. 18, 2013, file photo trader F. Hill Creekmore works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)
Story Highlights
- Wall Street eyes U.S. debt ceiling
- Typhoon Usagi closes Hong Kong markets
- Oil prices see modest pressure
Stocks fell Monday as investors continue to worry about the debt ceiling debate in Washington and the state of the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3% and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite index was down 0.4%.
Apple shares surged more than 3% after it said shoppers had snapped up 9 million[1] of the newest iPhones since the devices rolled out Friday.
APPLE: Sells record 9 million new iPhones[2]
TWITTER: Credit line up to $1B ahead of IPO?[3]
Stimulus from the Fed has helped push stocks to record levels this year and investors last week cheered its surprise decision to keep its stimulus in place[4]. The central bank said the economy wasn't strong enough for it to pull back on its bond-buying program.
William Dudley, the president of the Fed's New York branch, said Monday that any changes to the bank's stimulus must be based on the most recent measures of economic health, according to a Reuters report.
Investors were also keeping an eye on discussions in Congress over raising the debt ceiling. Lawmakers need to agree to raise the debt ceiling by Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown, and a potential default on payments, including debt, later in the month.
"As we move into the debt ceiling debate there seems to be a higher probability that will be more of a battle over that and that could inject some volatility into the market," said Scott Wren a senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors.
Wall Street fell Friday as investors focused on the debate in Washington and concerns about a stalemate between Republicans and the White House.
The Dow fell 1.2% to close at 15,451.09. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to 1,709.91. The Nasdaq fell 0.4% to 3,774.73.
FRIDAY: Stocks drop as budget uncertainty returns[5]
MARKET SURPRISE: September to remember for stocks[6]
Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa began trading on the 30-member Dow for the first time on Monday, replacing Alcoa, Bank of America and Hewlett-Packard. Goldman shares fell 2.5%, Nike was down 0.9% and Visa slipped 0.9%.
Shares of Blackberry are falling sharply, down almost 5% after the smartphone maker acknowledged Friday that its latest phones had failed to revive the troubled brand.
Benchmark oil for November delivery fell $1.08 to $103.67 per barrel in electronic trading Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.72% from 2.74%.
Shares of Blackberry are falling sharply, down 3.7% after the smartphone maker acknowledged Friday that its latest phones had failed to revive the troubled brand.
Global stock markets were mostly lower despite solid economic indicators out of China and Europe and an unexpectedly strong showing by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's national elections.
Though posting its best performance in 23 years in Sunday's election, Merkel's center-right bloc fell just short of an overall majority and will have to find a new coalition partner after its previous one failed to pass the 5% threshold needed to get parliamentary representation.
Germany's main stock index, the DAX, was 0.5% lower. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.6% and the CAC-40 in France fell 0.7%.
In Asia, a powerful storm forced Hong Kong markets to shutter in the morning while Japan's stock market was closed for a public holiday.
There was some positive news out of China Monday as a manufacturing survey in the world's second largest economy found that activity rose to a six-month high in August.
In the afternoon, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.6% and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2%.
Contributing: Associated Press
References
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/23/apple-iphone-nine-million/2853755/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/23/apple-iphone-nine-million/2853755/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/23/twitter-credit-1-billion/2854395/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/18/sept-federal-reserve-meeting/2828859/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2013/09/20/stocks-friday/2841369/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2013/09/22/september-to-remember-for-wall-street/2839187/ (www.usatoday.com)