Stocks have given up yesterday's gains and then some in today's trading as much attention has been paid to the fact that the three-year/10-year yield curve has inverted for the first time since 2007. Additionally, the Fed's downgrade of its economic forecasts is getting increased focus and displacing the enthusiasm about the central bank's implication that it doesn't foresee making any rate hikes in 2019. Adding to the growth worries have been a set of poor manufacturing data in Europe and some lower than expected purchasing managers index reports in the U.S.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., Markit's flash manufacturing PMI for March fell 0.5 ticks to 52.5 for its lowest print since June 2017 and Markit's flash services PMI fell 1.2 points to 54.8. Wholesale inventories rose 1.2% in January, with sales up 0.5%. Existing home sales rose 11.8% to a 5.51M rate in February, which was much stronger than expected.
In Europe, flash manufacturing PMIs disappointed as well. The overall Eurozone manufacturing PMI came in at 47.6 versus an expected reading of 49.5, Germany's manufacturing PMI came in at 44.7 versus the consensus 48 and France's manufacturing PMI came in at 49.8 versus the 51.4 reading that was forecast.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Nike (NKE) are down 5% after the athletic apparel and footwear maker reported weaker than expected sales in North America during its fiscal third quarter and provided a lower than expected outlook. Though Nike's Q4 outlook is shy of Street estimates, JPMorgan analyst Matt Boss said in a research note that Nike has been "historically conservative" with its forecast.
Shares of Boeing (BA) have slipped 2% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Garuda Indonesia is looking to cancel an order for 49 Boeing 737 MAX jets. Garuda is the first airline to publicly confirm plans to cancel a 737 MAX order following two crashes involving the jet in the last six months, the Journal's report noted.
General Motors (GM), which has recently be a target for negative tweets from President Donald Trump, confirmed that it is investing $300M in its Orion Township, Michigan, assembly plant to produce a new Chevrolet electric vehicle to be designed and engineered off an advanced version of the current Bolt EV architecture. Additional product information and timing for the new Chevrolet EV will be released closer to production, GM said.
Nokia (NOK), which yesterday reported an internal investigation into compliance at Alcatel Lucent, clarified on that disclosure today, stating that the specified investigation is "not expected to have a material impact." Nokia added: "We have seen no evidence that would suggest that criminal penalties would apply in this case, and we believe it is highly likely that any penalties that might apply would be limited and immaterial."
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Immutep (IMMP), which rose 18% after being issued a patent that provides intellectual property protection for the company's method of treating cancer by the administration of a chemotherapy agent and a plurality of doses of eftilagimod alpha. Also higher was Hibbett Sports (HIBB), which gained 23% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Penn Virginia (PVAC), which slid 3% after it mutually agreed to terminated its merger agreement with Denbury Resources (DNR). Denbury shares are also down 3% in reaction. Also lower was Zuora (ZUO), which fell 16% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 370.54, or 1.43%, to 25,591.97 , the Nasdaq was down 148.55, or 1.90%, to 7,690.41 , and the S&P 500 was down 44.00, or 1.54%, to 2,810.88 .
