Wall Street Ends Lower in Late-Trading Sell-Off
4:38 pm Tuesday, May 18th, 2021
The Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday in final hour sell-off, with technology shares turning lower in late trading, while the U.S. dollar made its lowest level since late February.
Dow Jones Industrial Average 34,060.66 −267.13 (0.78%)
Nasdaq Composite 13,303.64 −75.41 (0.56%)
S&P 500 4,127.83 −35.46 (0.85%)
Russell 2000 Index 2,207.95 -18.33 (0.82%)
Bitcoin 42,995.53 -1,206.29(-2.73%)
Shares of banks, industrial firms, energy companies and raw-materials producers led weakness in the S&P 500.
Fall in telecommunications shares overshadowed upbeat news from retailers. Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, raised its full-year earnings forecast. AT&T Inc added to declines from Monday, when it said it would cut its dividend payout ratio.
U.S. Treasuries ended Tuesday on a mixed note, as 10s and 30s recorded slim losses while shorter tenors outperformed, finishing just above their flat lines. The market followed Monday’s sleepy session with another range-bound affair. The 10-yr note and the 30-yr bond revisited yesterday’s highs after the Housing Starts/Building Permits report for April undershot expectations driven by a hot housing market.
Today’s Data: Total housing starts declined 9.5% month-over-month in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.569 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.715 million). Total permits rose just 0.3% month-over-month to 1.760 million, as expected.
The key takeaway from the report is in the breakdown, which showed zero growth in starts and permits for single-family homes across all regions, presumably as expansion plans were undercut by rising costs for land, labor, and materials.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD), meanwhile, is down 1% despite beating top and bottom-line estimates on 32.7% yr/yr revenue growth. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) was looking better with a 2.15% gain after raising its full-year guidance in addition to beating top and bottom-line estimates.
