The U.S. Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures business activity in the manufacturing and service sectors, fell to its lowest level in nine years this month. At a reading of 50.6, the PMI suggests the economy may currently be close to flat.
Interest rates and the price of oil plunged on the weak economic news. So did stock prices. The major indexes were all down sharply with the Nasdaq Composite index falling 1.58 percent. The Entrepreneur Index™ closed the day with a loss of 1.69 percent.
Technology stocks were once again hammered on the trade front. There is growing fear that the blacklisting of Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies could cause a “tech cold war” between the two biggest producers and consumers of technology products. Stock prices were down across the sector.
Twitter had the biggest decline, dropping 3.6 percent after posting the biggest gain yesterday. All four FAANG stocks on the index were down sharply with Facebook (-2.4 percent) falling the furthest. Chip-makers NVIDIA Corp. (-3.22 percent) and Analog Devices (-2.67 percent) both fell as did software-makers Adobe Systems Inc. (-2.69 percent) and salesforce.com (-2.49 percent).
Hess Corp. had the biggest loss on the Entrepreneur Index™ today, falling 7.93 percent. Growing inventories of crude oil in the U.S. reported yesterday and renewed worries about future energy demand from slowing economies led to a 5.3 percent drop in the price of oil. It is down nine percent in the last three days. Hess shares are still up 45.7 percent so far this year.
Other large losses on the index today included Chipotle Mexican Grill (-5.51 percent), casino-operator Wynn Resorts (-5.05 percent) and apparel-makers Under Armour Inc.(-3.34 percent) and Ralph Lauren Corp. (-3.15 percent).
Shares in L Brands jumped 12.79 percent today after the maker of Victoria’s Secret lingerie reported an unexpected quarterly profit. The company beat revenue estimates and slightly raised its guidance for 2019 earnings. Same-store sales at Victoria’s Secret continued to slide–down five percent in the quarter–but they rose thirteen percent at the company’s Bath and Body Works stores. L Brands closed another 35 Victoria’s Secret locations. Its stock is down 5.5 percent this year.
Only eight other stocks out of sixty on the Entrepreneur Index™ had gains today. The most notable was Tesla, which rose 1.43 percent after sliding precariously for the last week. The REIT sector was generally up with Apartment and Investment Management Company (1.01 percent) and Equity Residential (0.61 percent) posting the biggest gains.
