Stocks Slide to Start the Week
April 19 2021 - 05:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Anna Hirtenstein and Akane Otani
U.S. stocks slipped Monday, dragged down by losses across
everything from technology shares to retail stocks.
Investors started the week on a somewhat cautious note. A string
of blue-chip companies are scheduled to report earnings this week
and will offer a view on businesses' expectations for the pace of
economic revival. Money managers are looking to gauge whether
stocks' high valuations are justified after the Dow and S&P 500
hit closing records last week.
"After a big move, you get a pause of breath and a bit of a
reassessment, " said Caroline Simmons, U.K. chief investment
officer at UBS Asset Management. "People are reassessing, waiting
for news flow that might indicate that growth and inflation remain
on track."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 123.04 points, or 0.4%, to
34077.63, backing away from Friday's record close.
The S&P 500 lost 22.21 points, or 0.5%, to 4163.26 and the
Nasdaq Composite declined 137.57 points, or 1%, to 13914.77.
Peloton fell $8.46, or 7.3%, to $107.75 after a federal safety
agency said over the weekend that people with young children or
pets shouldn't use the connected-fitness company's treadmills.
Tesla declined $25.15, or 3.4%, to $714.63 after two men died in
a Tesla vehicle that crashed into a tree Saturday. Authorities
believe the vehicle was operating without anyone in the driver's
seat.
Meanwhile, GameStop rose $9.68, or 6.3%, to $164.37 after it
said its chief executive would step down.
Harley-Davidson shares jumped $3.91, or 9.7%, to $44.29 after
the motorcycle maker shared better-than-expected sales results for
the first quarter and raised its forecast for motorcycle revenue
for the year.
On the earnings front, companies including Procter & Gamble,
Netflix and Lockheed Martin are scheduled to post results later in
the week.
As of Friday, 81% of S&P 500 companies that had shared their
results exceeded analysts' expectations for earnings, according to
FactSet. Meanwhile, 84% beat analysts' expectations for sales.
Investors hoping the stock market's climb will continue say they
are counting on earnings results to continue impressing to the
upside.
"I expect the earnings picture is going to remain very buoyant
across the picture and for the momentum to stay very positive,"
said Fahad Kamal, chief investment officer of Kleinwort Hambros.
"As long as earnings meet what are very heightened expectations,
the rally can keep going."
Bitcoin stabilized around $55,900 after plunging almost 12% over
the weekend, according to data from CoinDesk. Turkey's central bank
said Friday it would ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a form of
payment.
"The [cryptocurrency market] is really on edge right now," said
Joel Kruger, a currency strategist at LMAX. "There were concerns
over the weekend after Turkey came out with the news of major
regulatory restrictions coming into force."
Some traders were speculating that the U.S. Treasury could make
a similar decision, he said.
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 inched down 0.1%,
snapping a four-session winning streak.
In Asia, most major benchmarks ticked up. The Shanghai Composite
Index climbed 1.5% for its best day in over three weeks. Hong
Kong's Hang Seng added 0.5%. However, India's benchmark stock index
fell 1.8% as Covid-19 cases continued to climb.
Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com and Akane
Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 19, 2021 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.