After Market: Stocks Got Sacked As Investor Confidence Sagged

DailyFinance Staff
Updated

What did the stock market Monday have in common with the Denver Broncos Sunday night? They both got clobbered. February roared in like a bear, extending last month's big sell-off. The decline was steep and broad-based, with the number of losing issues swamping gainers by a huge margin.

A weaker-than-expected report on manufacturing dinged investor confidence about the economy. And once again, the selling started overseas. Japan's Nikkei index officially entered correction territory, down more than 10 percent from its recent peak.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) tumbled another 326 points. They're now down more than one-thousand points since we turned the calendar to 2014. The the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 40, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) tumbled 107 points to its lowest level since June of 2012.

The steep slide could wreak havoc on the overall economy. It's the opposite of the wealth effect, when people spend more because their brokerage statements are flush. Add in the higher cost of heating our homes this winter, and industries from retail to housing to travel and leisure all took big hits.

Telecom and industrial stocks topped the list of blue chip losers. AT&T (T) dropped 4 percent, while Verizon (VZ), General Electric (GE), United Technologies (UTX) and 3M (MMM) each lost more than 3 percent.

Ford (F) and GM (GM) each lost more than 2 percent after posting disappointing January sales numbers.

And take a look at some of the leaders in the travel and leisure sectors. Among the airlines, United (UAL) and Delta (DAL) both fell 4 percent.

Hotel companies Marriott (MAR) and Starwood (HOT) both down more than 3 percent.

And online travel companies Priceline (PCLN), Expedia (EXPE) and TripAdviser (TRIP) all slid.

Homebuilders also crumbled. Beazer (BZH) lost 4 percent. Pulte (PHM), Hovnanian (HOV) and others lost about 3 percent. The online real estate company Zillow (Z) lost 5-1/2 percent.

Among widely followed internet stocks, Amazon (AMZN) tumbled 3.5 percent and Google (GOOG) lost 4 percent.

What to Watch Tuesday:

  • The Commerce Department releases factory orders for December at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

These major companies are due to report quarterly financial statements:

  • Aflac (AFL)

  • Ameriprise Financial (AMP)

  • Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

  • BP (BP)

  • Clorox (CLX)

  • Gannett (GCI)

  • Genworth Financial (GNW)

  • International Paper (IP)

  • UBS (UBS)

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

Advertisement