US open: Commodity stocks, banks drive losses

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 31 May, 2017

Updated : 16:50

21:29 15/11/24

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Volume: 11,092,636
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Falling prices for metals and a sharp drop in crude oil futures weighed on the main Wall Street averages as investors waited on the release of the US central bank's Beige Book later in the session.

At 1628 BST the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.18% to 20,993.89, with the S&P 500 off by 0.23% at 2,407.45 and the Nasdaq Composite losing 0.27% to 6,186.05.

The worst performing segments of the market were: Aluminium (-3.48%), Coal (-3.19%), Industrial Metals (-2.47%) and Oil Equipment and Services (-2.14%).

Driving those losses, overnight Chinese investors pushed iron ore, steel rebar and coking coal futures for September on the Dalian Commodity Exchange metals prices sharply lower.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were falling in tandem, on news that Libya's oil production was continuing to recover, rising to 827,000 barrels per day and above a three-year peak of 800,000.

Banks were also lower after JP Morgan Chase finance chief Marianne Lake reportedly told investors that trading had declined by roughly 15% in the second quarter.

Investors appeared to brush off Lake's assertion that it was a normal seasonal variation, sending the KBW index of lenders' shares 1.82% lower to 88.40 points.

Stock in Michael Kors suffered a sharp drop - the steepest on the NYSE - after the company reported a high single-digit drop in fiscal fourth quarter like-for-likes.

Still on the economic calendar for later in the day, San Francisco Fed President John Williams was scheduled to deliver a speech in Seoul, South Korea later on Wednesday after the close of markets.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a compendium of anecdotal evidence from around the country compiled ahead of each monetary policy meeting, was scheduled for release at 19:00 BST.

Dow Jones - Risers

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.70 1.77%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $128.52 1.11%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $78.65 0.64%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $87.94 0.62%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $65.28 0.61%
3M Co. (MMM) $203.65 0.60%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $124.38 0.52%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $152.51 0.51%
Boeing Co. (BA) $187.81 0.50%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.41 0.45%