Stocks resumed their April swoon Thursday, snapping two days of moderate gains with a broad-based sell-off that undercut the Nasdaq Index by more than 3%. Blue-chip equities as measured by the Dow Jones Industrials fared slightly better, falling about 1.6% as a group, but the broader S&P 500 was down over 2% by the close.
China's Data
Shares were under pressure throughout the session, turning lower soon after the opening bell following another big miss for a Chinese trade number reported overnight, casting new doubts on the pace of global growth.
China's export and import activity unexpectedly fell in March, with exports declining 6.6%, China's General Administration of Customs said, well under the 4% rise expected in the market consensus. The fall was even larger for imports, retreating 11.3% instead of the 2.4% gain experts had anticipated.
All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 finished in the red, led by declines by shares of healthcare, consumer discretionary and financial companies. Utility stock had the best day, declining less than 0.4%.
Commodities
Crude oil for May delivery settled 20 cents lower at $103.40 per barrel while May natural gas was up 7 cents to finish at $4.66 per 1 million BTU. June gold rose $15.10 to $1320.80 per ounce while May silver rose $0.33 to $20.10 per ounce. May copper added a penny to settle at $3.05 per pound.
Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Average down 181.18 (-1.72%) to 10,373.76
- S&P 500 down 39.10 (-2.09%) to 1,833.08
- Nasdaq Composite Index down 129.79 (-3.10%) to 4,054.11
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Hang Seng Index up 1.51%
- Shanghai China Composite Index up 1.38%
- FTSE 100 Index up 0.10%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) RT, Non-GAAP Q3 net loss of $0.07 per share beats consensus by $0.01. Revenue falls 3.8% year over year to $295.6 mln, topping Street view by $10.8 mln. Expects same-store sales during Q4 to be up 1% to down 1% from year-ago levels.
- (+) IGTE, Reports a 10% jump in revenue over year-ago levels to $302.2 mln, beats Street view by $1.2 mln. Adjusted profit of $0.45 tops analyst expectations by $0.04 per share.
- (+) CLDN, Receives breakthrough therapy designation from FDA for its Mydicar drug candidate to treat potential heart failure.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) AGIO, Discloses plans to raise up to $86.3 million in a stock offering, including an overallotment option for underwriters. Proceeds will be used to fund trials of the company's blood-cancer treatments.
- (-) IMPV, Reduces Q1 revenue guidance by $5 mln to a new range of $31.0 mln to $31.5 mln, trailing estimates by at least $5.1 mln. Boosts projected non-GAAP net loss by $0.07 to $0.40 to $0.44 per share, or at least $0.06 wider than estimates.
- (-) BBBY, Q1 EPS outlook misses by at least $0.06; sees EPS growth in the mid-single digits compared with consensus expecting 10% growth. Matches analyst expectations with Q4 earnings of $1.60 per share on $3.2 bln in revenue.
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