Jun. 26, 2023 at 11:45 pm

US close: Stocks stumble as Russia news tips sentiment

June 26, 2023no commentNo tags

Wall Street’s major indices concluded Monday’s trading in negative territory, with the Dow registering its sixth straight day of losses.

Investors reacted nervously to the weekend’s sudden political upheaval in Russia, which manifested in an unsuccessful coup attempt.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.04% at 33,714.71, while the S&P 500 also felt the brunt of the day’s selling pressure, shedding 0.45% to settle at 4,328.82.

Leading the downward march, the Nasdaq Composite suffered the most significant hit of 1.16% to end the trading day at 13,335.78.

On the currency front, the dollar was a mixed bag, making marginal gains of 0.01% on sterling to last trade at 78.67p.

It did, however, slightly weaken against the euro and the yen, dipped 0.02% on the former to 91.67 euro cents, and losing 0.08% against the latter to change hands at JPY 143.40.

“An armed rebellion in a G20 state has failed to move markets in any meaningful way, not least because the rebellion itself barely lasted half the weekend,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp earlier in the day.

“While it leaves open the possibility of more disruption, the net effect on markets so far has been limited to say the least.

The selling seen on Friday has not had much follow-through, and the second quarter may well end on a subdued note despite renewed inflation worries.”

Tesla slumps on downgrade, Blackstone and IBM gain on deal news

With little in the way of macroeconomic headlines to guide markets, all eyes were on equities, with electric car giant Tesla plunging 6.06% after Goldman Sachs revised its stance on the company.

The investment bank said its downgrade primarily stemmed from the perception that the market had already factored in Tesla’s longer-term opportunities.

Goldman Sachs also highlighted a challenging pricing environment for new vehicles, which it believed will continue to affect Tesla’s non-GAAP automotive gross margin throughout the year.

Meanwhile, private equity giant Blackstone ascended 1.07% in the wake of news that the company would sell a portfolio of warehouses to real estate giant Prologis in a deal worth $3.1bn.

Finally, tech veteran IBM added 1.48% after it agreed to acquire software provider Apptio from Vista Equity Partners for $4.6bn.

IBM said the acquisition would “accelerate the advancement of IBM’s IT automation capabilities and enable enterprise leaders to deliver enhanced business value across technology investments.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Dow Jones – Risers

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Nike Inc. (NKE) $111.74 2.03%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.01 1.76%
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Intel Corp. (INTC) $33.34 1.03%
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