(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)
US stocks finished lower on Tuesday as investors were rattled by a a record tenth straight monthly drop in wholesale inventories.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 96.50 points or 1.03% to finish at 9,241.45. The S&P 500 fell 12.75 points or 1.27% to end at 994.35. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 22.51 points or 1.13% to 1,969.73.
The Commerce Department said in a release on Tuesday that Wholesale inventories fell by a larger than expected 1.7% in June. Economists were expecting inventories to fall 0.9%.
According to Department of Labor, U.S. productivity climbed 6.4% in second quarter. Economists expected a reading of 5.5%. Unit labor costs plunged at a 5.8% rate, the largest decline in nine years and a slightly larger drop that the 5.3% decline expected by economists. Hourly earnings increased 0.2% in the second quarter.
Shares of financials plunged. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
BAC) lost 83 cents or 4.98% to 15.85. JP Morgan & Chase & Co (NYSE:
JPM) tumbled $1.45 or 3.40% to $41.24. American Express Co. (NYSE:
AXP) declined 83 cents or 2.57% to $31.51.
General Electric Co. (NYSE:
GE) plummeted 58 cents or 3.98% to $13.99.
Shares of Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE:
TRV) slid $1.49 or 3.21% to $44.93.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:
CSCO) fell 47 cents or 2.17% to $21.17.
Among energy stocks, Chevron Corp. (NYSE:
CVX) dropped $1.29 or 1.86% to $67.94.
CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:
CIT) said Tuesday that it has delayed filing its second-quarter report with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Aug. 10 deadline without incurring "unreasonable effort and expense." The commercial lender said senior management and other key personnel in recent weeks have been focusing on the restructuring plan announced in late July, which has prevented the company from completing its Form 10-Q on time. Shares of the commercial finance lender sank 28 cents or 18.92% to $1.20.
Late on Monday, engineering and construction giant Fluor Corp. (NYSE:
FLR) reported that its second-quarter profit declined to $169 million, or 93 cents a share, from $208 million, or $1.12 cents a share, in the year ago quarter. Revenue dropped 8% to $5.3 billion. Shares of Fluor Corp. retreated $3.53 or 6.14% to close at $53.96.
Independent film studio Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE:
LGF) first-quarter net profit rose to $36.3 million, or 30 cents a share, from $3.5 million, or 3 cents a share, in the prior year period. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of 21 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30. Revenue surged 30 percent to $387.7 million in the quarter. Shares of the company finished at $6.31, down 15 cents or 2.32% to $6.31.
European stocks settled with losses. The UK FTSE dropped 50.86 points or 1.08% to 4,671.34. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 2.44% and 1.38% respectively.
Asian stocks finished up. The Nikkei 225 rose 61.20 points or 0.58% to 10,585.46. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong advanced 144.69 points or 0.69% to 21,074.21.
NYMEX crude oil for September delivery declined $1.25 or 1.8% to settle at $69.35 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn’t own any of the stocks mentioned here.
