This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/business/stock-markets-wall-street.html

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Wall Street Hits New 2018 Lows as Stock Market Decline Continues Wall Street Hits New 2018 Lows as Fed Decision Looms Over Markets
(about 1 hour later)
Stocks slumped again on Monday, sending the S&P 500 stock index to its lowest level of the year, as investors looked to a Federal Reserve decision later this week and limped toward the close of a challenging year. Stocks on Wall Street fell on Monday to a new 2018 low, as investors braced for a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates this week and health care stocks were roiled by a court decision about the Affordable Care Act.
The selling spared few sectors, with tech firms, the health care industry, small companies and blue chip corporations all falling after survey data suggested some softening in the United States’ outlook for growth. The S&P 500-stock index ended down 2.1 percent, sinking below levels reached during a steep decline in February. The index is now down 4.8 percent for the year.
Should the market fail to rebound, the losses for 2018 could represent Wall Street’s worst year since the financial crisis a decade ago.
The selling spared few sectors, with tech companies, the health care industry, small businesses and blue-chip corporations all falling after survey data suggested some softening in the United States’ outlook for growth.
In the commodities markets, prices for benchmark American crude oil fell close to 4 percent, tumbling below $50 a barrel. Investors moved to the safety of American Treasury bonds, pushing yields — which move in the opposite direction of prices — on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.85 percent, the lowest level since early September. Typically, falling yields are associated with softening economic conditions. Borrowing costs in corporate bond markets rose, as investors shied away from risk.
“Every part of the market has been acting like things are a lot slower,” said Ilya Feygin, managing director at the institutional brokerage firm WallachBeth. “Everywhere, every market is telling you the same thing.”“Every part of the market has been acting like things are a lot slower,” said Ilya Feygin, managing director at the institutional brokerage firm WallachBeth. “Everywhere, every market is telling you the same thing.”
The sell-off sent the S&P 500 down about 2 percent, and the benchmark passed lows that it had hit in February. The index has now lost almost 5 percent for the year. If the stock market were to end the year down that much it would be its worst performance since 2008. This year’s sell-off is nothing like the collapse of stocks a decade ago, when the S&P fell more than 38 percent. But in its own way, 2018 is emerging as a remarkable year for financial markets, with almost every type of investment and asset class — stocks, bonds, commodities, even supersafe Treasurys — posting negative or minuscule returns.
[Read more about how investors have nowhere to go as stocks, bonds and commodities all tumble.][Read more about how investors have nowhere to go as stocks, bonds and commodities all tumble.]
The pain was particularly acute in the health care sector, as investors digested the decision of a federal judge in Texas who ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional last week. While the decision, which will be appealed, does not immediately upend the law, it does raise new uncertainty for the companies that have established significant businesses structured around the law known as Obamacare. Until recently, shares of health care companies had been something of an outlier against that backdrop. The S&P 500 health care sector had rallied after the November midterm elections as investors figured that threats to the Affordable Care Act would fade after the Democrats retook control of the House of Representatives.
Centene, an insurer based in St. Louis, Mo., that has built a large business servicing government-funded Medicaid programs, was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500, tumbling more than 7 percent as trading volume surged. The hospital chain HCA also fell sharply, as any change to the law that resulted in lower levels of insurance would likely result in higher costs for the hospitals. But on Monday, the sector was hit hard after a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional last week. While the decision, which will be appealed, does not immediately upend the law, it does raise new uncertainty for the companies that have established significant businesses structured around the law known as Obamacare.
Johnson & Johnson extended its recent losses, falling more than 3 percent on Monday, as investors worried about its legal exposure to claims that its Johnson’s Baby Powder might have been contaminated with asbestos. The stock had dropped 10 percent on Friday. Centene, an insurer based in St. Louis that has built a large business servicing government-funded Medicaid programs, fell 4.8 percent as trading volume surged. The hospital chain HCA also fell sharply, as any change to the law that resulted in lower levels of insurance would most likely result in higher costs for the hospitals. The S&P health care sector fell 2.1 percent.
[Read more about the new legal front opened by ovarian cancer patients claiming asbestos contamination.] Elsewhere, some data showed signs of a softening in the American economic outlook. The Empire State manufacturing index, a somewhat limited gauge of economic sentiment among manufacturers in New York State, tumbled sharply. A survey of American homebuilders also showed sentiment continuing to fall in an area of the economy where rising mortgage rates have hurt affordability and sales.
Elsewhere, some data showed signs of a softening in the American economic outlook. The Empire State manufacturing index, a somewhat limited gauge of economic sentiment among manufacturers in New York State, tumbled sharply. A survey of American home builders also showed sentiment continuing to fall in an area of the economy where rising mortgage rates have hurt affordability and sales. Such survey data is usually considered less solid than official government economic reports. But with the sell-off in shares suggesting an increasingly uncertain outlook for growth and corporate profits, many investors are focused on any economic update that confirms the worrisome signals being sent by stocks.
Such survey data is usually considered less solid than official government economic reports. But with the sell-off in shares — they’re now down roughly 3 percent this year — suggesting an increasingly uncertain outlook for growth and corporate profits, many investors are intensely focused on any economic update that confirms the worrisome signals being sent by stocks as they await the decision of the Federal Reserve this week on whether to raise interest rates. Amid the market slump, President Trump sent a Twitter message on Monday calling “incredible” the widespread expectation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates when it concludes its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
President Trump sent a Twitter message on Monday calling “incredible” the widespread expectation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates when it concludes its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. The Fed’s decision will most likely be one of the last major events for markets in what has been a befuddling year for investors.
The Fed’s decision will likely be one of the last major events for markets in what has been a befuddling year for investors. For the first time in decades, every major type of investment has fared poorly, as the outlook for economic growth and corporate profits is dampened by rising trade tensions and interest rates.