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Stock Market News for Aug 10, 2023

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U.S. stocks closed lower for the second straight session on Wednesday as technology stocks took a beating while investors digested news of China entering deflation and waited for the all-important consumer price index data that is scheduled for release on Thursday morning. All three major indexes ended in negative territory.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) slipped 0.5% or 191.13 points to finish at 35,123.36 points after declining as much as 250 points at its session low.   

The S&P 500 declined 0.7% or 31.67 points to close at 4,467.71 points. Tech stocks were the biggest drag on the index. Also, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks suffered losses.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) gave up 1.3%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) declined 1.2%, while the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) shed 0.8%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) lost 1.1%. Seven of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.2% or 162.31 points to end at 13,722.02 points.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.19% to 15.96. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.18-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.63-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 11.06 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 10.89 billion.

Investors Await CPI Data

Stocks fell for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as investors keenly awaited the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading due to be on Thursday. Investors have been keeping a close watch on the index in recent months to get a clearer picture of how the Fed will continue with its interest rates going forward.

Economists expect CPI to increase 0.2% in July, the same as last month, while the annual rate of inflation is projected to increase 3.3% in July after climbing 3% in the prior month. Core CPI that excludes the volatile food and energy prices is projected to climb 0.2% in July, while the annual inflation rate is expected to rise 4.7% in July after rising 4.8% in June.

Market participants are hopeful that the Fed might finally end its current monetary tightening policy as inflation has steadily declined over the past 12 months. However, the CPI and the producer price index (PPI) reading, which will be out on Friday, will give a clearer picture of the Fed’s future course of action.

Stocks continued to suffer on Wednesday, a day after Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings of 10 small-to-mid-sized regional lenders, including M&T Bank Corporation ((MTB - Free Report) ). M&T Bank Corporation has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

This raised further concerns about the health of the nation’s banks and economy.

China Enters Deflation

More bad news continued to come in from China. After coming up with disappointing trade data that showed exports falling 14.5% in July from the year-ago period, China slipped into deflation on Wednesday, raising more worries about the global economic health.

Tech stocks were one of the biggest sufferers on Wednesday. Shares of Apple Inc. ((AAPL - Free Report) ) declined 0.9%, while Alphabet Inc. ((GOOGL - Free Report) ) fell 1.3%.

Investors are also keeping an eye on companies as they report their quarterly reports as the second-quarter earnings season draws to a close. They are now waiting for the ear

No major economic data was released on Wednesday.


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