Markets News, August 5, 2024: Major Indexes Record Their Biggest One-Day Losses in Nearly Two Years

S&P Biggest Movers on Monday

22 hr 11 min ago

Decliners

• Shares of casino operator Caesars Entertainment (CZR) dropped 6.9%, suffering the heaviest losses of any S&P 500 stock. Although the company reported strength in its Las Vegas segment when it reported results last week, its regional operations face tough competition, and its revenue for the second quarter fell short of expectations. Caesars also announced late last week that it would sell the World Series of Poker brand to Canada-based online gaming group NSUS.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares fell 6.6%. While pressure on the pharmacy giant may be related to the uncertain economic outlook, the company also announced late last week that it would sell $1.1 billion of its stake in drug distributor Cencora. Walgreens said it will use the proceeds from the sale to fund its operations and pay down debt. The firm has struggled with slumping consumer demand and high operating costs, discussing plans to shutter underperforming stores when it reported quarterly results in June.
• Shares of Etsy (ETSY) declined 6.6% after analysts at B. Riley cut their current-quarter earnings forecast for the online crafts marketplace. Although Etsy topped sales expectations when it reported second-quarter results last week, profits fell short of estimates, and the firm’s below-consensus guidance for its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin raised questions about its growth trajectory.
• Intel (INTC) shares lost 6.4% on Monday, extending losses late last week after the semiconductor giant posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results and announced layoffs as it aims to cut costs. In notes to investors following the earnings release, analysts questioned whether the cost-reduction plans will be enough for Intel to regain its competitive mojo.

Advancers

• Shares of Kellanova (K), maker of Eggo Waffles, Cheez-It, and other packaged food brands, soared 16.2%, notching Monday’s top performance in the S&P 500. The leap higher for the stock followed reports that candymaker Mars is in advanced talks to purchase Kellanova. According to The Wall Street Journal, a possible deal would value the snack-focused firm, which completed its spinoff from cereal giant WK Kellogg (KLG) last year, at around $30 billion.

• Tyson Foods (TSN) shares added 2.1% after the meat producer reported better-than-expected sales and adjusted profits for its fiscal third quarter. Although plant closures and legal costs pressured the results, the company touted its strong free cash flow generation and gains in adjusted operating income. Tyson also saw a boost from increased sales in beef, pork, and prepared foods, although chicken sales ticked downward.
• Shares of CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) gained 1.9% as the cybersecurity firm rebuffed claims from Delta Air Lines (DAL) that CrowdStrike should be held liable for flight disruptions following last month’s global tech outage. Delta said last week that it planned to seek financial compensation from CrowdStrike to recover losses suffered as a result of the incident.

–Michael Bromberg

Mag 7 Has Lost Nearly $3 Trillion in Weeks-Long Slide

22 hr 26 min ago

The U.S. tech sector took a massive hit Monday, with the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks all falling sharply.

The S&P 500 recorded its worst day since September 2022 on Monday, falling 3%. Monday’s selloff is the latest in a string of bad days for markets. Stocks have tumbled several times in recent weeks amid concerns about a weakening U.S. economy and overbought tech stocks.

Combined, the Mag Seven have shed nearly $3 trillion in market capitalization since early July when most of the group traded at record highs. (Read the full story here.)

Despite the recent declines, six of the seven mega-cap stocks remain in positive territory for the year, with Tesla the only one in the red for 2024. Nvidia’s price is more than twice as high as it’s closing 2023 level.

–Andrew Kessel

Why the Yield Curve (Briefly) Uninverted Today

August 05, 2024 03:29 PM EDT

The Treasury yield curve, one of the market’s most reliable recession indicators, briefly uninverted for the first time in more than two years on Monday morning as equities sold off amid concerns about a slowing U.S. economy. 

The spread between 2-year and 10-year yields, a common proxy for the Treasury yield curve, briefly dipped to -0.01 points in early trading Monday, marking the first time that the 10-year yield has exceeded the 2-year since July 2022. 

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes is normally greater than on 2-year notes because longer-duration debt comes with more risk. For investors purchasing Treasury debt, those risks are primarily related to short-term interest rates.

The present yield curve, which has lasted more than two years, is the longest on record.

Yields tumbled in recent weeks as soft economic data has raised confidence the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon.

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Bitcoin and Other Crypto Assets Hit Hard

August 05, 2024 03:08 PM EDT

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) briefly fell below $50,000 Monday for the first time since February as U.S. economic fears spread the market rout beyond stocks, leading to about $1.2 billion in crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for bitcoin investors. This morning’s low was nearly 30% below the $70,000 price level bitcoin hit exactly a week ago. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap recovered somewhat, trading above $53,000 in afternoon trading.

As the stock market began to crumble Friday, nervous investors pulled out $237.4 million from spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to data from Farside Investors.

Other crypto assets have also been hit hard. Ether (ETHUSD) and Solana (SOLUSD) both lost about a quarter of their value over the past week.

Crypto-related stocks felt the double whammy of selling pressure from both the stock and the crypto markets. Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR), one of the largest corporate holders of bitcoin, were down 11% while those of Block (SQ) and Coinbase (COIN) were also down sharply.

Bitcoin miner stocks traded lower, too. Cleanspark (CLSK), Hut 8 (HUT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) all tumbled.

–Kyle Torpey

Kellanova Jumps on Reports of Possible Sale to Mars

August 05, 2024 02:05 PM EDT

Kellanova (K) shares soared Monday, bucking the broader market selloff, on reports that candy giant Mars is in advanced talks to buy the maker of Pop-Tarts and Pringles.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a deal could be imminent and would value Kellanova at around $30 billion in one of this year’s biggest M&A transactions. Reuters was the first to report on the potential deal.

Kellanova was spun out of Kellogg last year and is focused on snacks and other foods, while WK Kellogg (KLG) houses the traditional Kellogg cereal brands, such as Corn Flakes and Fruit Loops.

If the deal is struck, it would mark one of the largest M&A deals of the year and biggest in the packaged foods sector ever. Last September, J.M. Smucker (SJM) agreed to buy Hostess Brands (TWNK), the maker of Twinkies, for $5.6 billion, including $900 million in debt.

Last week, Kellanova reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its guidance, boosted by North and Latin American demand.

Kellanova shares were up 15% to a 52-week high in afternoon trading, leading S&P 500 advancers.

–Nisha Gopalan

Apple Falls as Buffett Trimmed Stake Again in Q2

August 05, 2024 01:08 PM EDT

Shares of Apple (AAPL) took a hit after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) revealed over the weekend that it reduced its stake in the iPhone maker by nearly 50%.

The conglomerate’s most recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed an Apple stake worth $84.2 billion as of June 30—49% lower than its stake a quarter earlier.

 The move comes after Berkshire slashed its Apple holdings by 13% in the first quarter.

 Despite the cuts, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest holding, ahead of Bank of America (BAC), American Express (AXP), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), and Chevron (CVX).

Apple shares were down more than 4% in afternoon trading Monday.

–Andrew Kessel

Nvidia Slides as New AI Chip Reportedly Delayed

August 05, 2024 11:38 AM EDT

Nvidia (NVDA) shares fell sharply early trading Monday following reports that the company’s highly anticipated Blackwell system, including its next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips, will be delayed. Nvidia was leading a broader tech sector decline as global stock markets retreated amid growing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.

The Blackwell AI chip could be held up by three months or more because of design flaws, The Information reported, citing anonymous sources close to the company.

Nvidia told Microsoft (MSFT) and another large cloud provider there was a delay, the article said. A delay would affect Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, Meta (META), Microsoft, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Tesla (TSLA), and Elon Musk’s xAI, among others.

Strong demand for Blackwell ahead of its rollout played a key role in helping drive Nvidia’s stock higher this year, and was expected to lift Nvidia partners like Micron Technology (MU) and Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), as well as benefit others in the AI space.

Nvidia shares were down 5.8% at $101.07 in recent trading, after sliding as low as $90.69 earlier in Monday’s session.

–Naomi Buchanan

Bank Stocks Slide on Economic Concerns

August 05, 2024 11:02 AM EDT

Bank stocks tumbled on Monday as last week’s sell-off, which was accelerated by a weak jobs report on Friday, extended into the new week amid concerns about the rising risk of a U.S. recession and a weakening consumer outlook.

The S&P Banks Select Industry Index was down nearly 4% in recent trading. Shares of America’s largest lenders, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), were down 2.5% and 3.5%, respectively. Citigroup shares fell more than 5%.

“Given the credit sensitivity of these banks, and signs from the credit card companies that the consumer is slowing down, I think that this is just an indiscriminate selloff for portfolio managers of anything that is sensitive to higher credit losses and a weakening economy,” UBS large-cap banks analyst Erika Najarian said on CNBC Monday morning.

VIX Jumps to Highest Level Since March 2020

August 05, 2024 09:36 AM EDT

One measure of stock market volatility surged to its highest level since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic on Monday morning as stocks across the globe continued to suffer big losses.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) jumped above 60 on Monday, the highest the “fear index” has been since March 2020. It is the index’s highest reading outside of two distinct market meltdowns: the onset of Covid-19 and the fallout from the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

–Colin Laidley

Investors Flee Risk for Safety of Bonds

August 05, 2024 08:50 AM EDT

Money is piling into bonds as investors seek the safety of Treasurys, with the U.S. 10-year yield falling below 3.7% Monday morning for the first time since June of last year.

UBS in a note Monday said it now anticipates 100 basis points of rate cuts this year, up from 50 basis points previously, while traders are increasingly forecasting an emergency rate cut even before the September meeting.

“US equities and bond yields fell in tandem on Friday due to weak US jobs data, raising concerns that the Fed may have delayed rate cuts too long, risking a recession,” Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note Monday.

–Nisha Gopalan

Major Stock Indexes Poised to Open Sharply Lower

August 05, 2024 08:04 AM EDT

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 2.1%.

S&P 500 futures were down 3.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were down 4.6%.