Stocks Tumble on North Korea Worries, Weak Economic Data
Stocks tumbled in trading on Wednesday, with all three major indexes finishing at session lows, amid concerns over North Korea. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the U.S. sees a real and clear danger from North Korea.
Investors’ sentiment was also weighed down by some disappointing U.S. economic data. According to ADP, private sector added 158,000 jobs in March, well below the consensus forecast of 200,000 job additions. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management’s services sector index fell to 54.4 in March, according to data released earlier today.
The Dow Jones ended the day 0.76% lower at 14,550.35, the S&P 500 ended the day 1.05% lower at 1,553.69, and the Nasdaq ended the day 1.11% lower at 3,218.60.
All sectors in the S&P 500 ended the day sharply lower. The losses were led by Basic Materials sector, which ended the day 1.69% lower. Energy sector ended the day 1.44% lower, while Financials ended the day 1.55% lower. Transportation sector fell 1.35%.
Among the major movers on Wednesday were Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), which ended the day 14.98% higher at $3.53, Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), which ended the day 9.16% lower at $44.52, and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC), which ended the day 7.78% lower at $44.09.
European markets ended mostly lower earlier today, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 1.08% lower, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris closing 1.32% lower. Asian markets ended on a mixed note overnight, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan closing 2.99% higher, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 0.14% lower.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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