Stock market news live updates: Stocks tumble, Dow drops 700+ points as virus concerns mount - Yahoo Movies Canada

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Stocks dropped sharply, pointing to another volatile day on Wall Street as investors nervously eyed elevated coronavirus case counts in the U.S. and Europe, weighed outcomes of Election Day next week and contemplated when another round of fiscal stimulus out of Washington might get passed.

The drop in domestic equities came alongside a plunge in European stocks, with the STOXX 600 selling off and hitting the lowest level since May. Concerns of even more restrictions across the region weighed on global risk assets, with French President Emmanuel Macron set to give a speech later today in France that could be used to announce more lockdowns. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering closing all bars and restaurants in the country for one month starting in early November, according to a draft proposal obtained by Reuters.

In the U.S., hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have risen by at least 10% over the past week across 32 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) jumped more than 18% to its highest level since June. Contracts on the Dow tumbled more than 700 points mid-morning. Component Microsoft dropped even after the tech giant reported quarterly revenue that grew a better-than-expected 12% as its Azure cloud offering accelerated sales growth from the previous period. Guidance for some business units’ current-quarter performance came in light, however.

Tech stocks will remain in focus on Wednesday. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation began holding a hearing with Twitter (TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has to date helped protect online platforms from liability over user-created content.

The three tech executives offered a vocal defense of these legal protections in prepared remarks, with Dorsey calling Section 230 “the Internet’s most important law for free speech and safety.” Zuckerberg maintained that Section 230 “encourages free expression” and “allows platforms to moderate content,” according to a copy of his opening statement. However, Zuckerberg also noted he was open to Congress updating “the law to make sure it’s working as intended.”

Later Wednesday after market close, firms including Ford (F), Etsy (ETSY), Pinterest (PINS) and Gilead Sciences (GILD) will report quarterly results. As of Tuesday morning, companies comprising about 32% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization had reported third-quarter results, with earnings topping estimates by 16.1% in aggregate so far, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse. Still, the bar to clear was relatively low, with analysts heading into third-quarter earnings season looking for an aggregate drop in S&P 500 earnings per share (EPS) of about 20% over last year.

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10:34 a.m. ET: Stock selloff accelerates, Dow sheds more than 700 points

The three major indices added to losses mid-morning on Wednesday.

A drop in Dow Inc. and Visa shares led declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The index dropped 730 points, or 2.7%, and was tracking toward its worst day since September 3. The S&P 500 dropped 2.7% as well and was pacing toward its worst one-day loss since September 8, as the energy and information technology sectors lagged.

The Nasdaq underperformed as Big Tech stocks dropped, with the index off 2.8% to head toward its worst day since September 23.

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9:53 a.m. ET: Boeing announces more job cuts as global airline industry continues to get hammered by virus

Boeing (BA) on Wednesday said it is set to bring its workforce down to 130,000 by the end of 2021, after starting the year with a headcount of 160,000, according to a statement released in tandem with its third-quarter earnings results.

The company had already announced thousands of headcount reductions due to attrition and layoffs earlier this year, and the latest round of cuts will impact another about 7,000 jobs. Earlier this month, Boeing had forecast an 11% slump in commercial aircraft demand over the next decade, in a testament to the longer-standing issues for the industry brought about by the pandemic.

In third-quarter earnings results, Boeing delivered a narrower than expected loss for the three months to the end of September, and operating cash flow turned positive. The company noted, however, that it was still “significantly impacted” by the ongoing pandemic and global grounding of the 737 Max jet.

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9:34 a.m. ET: UPS, General Electric reported third-quarter results that top expectations

Parcel giant UPS (UPS) and General Electric (GE) each reported third-quarter results that handily topped consensus expectations Wednesday morning.

UPS posted adjusted earnings of $2.28 per share on revenue of $21.2 billion, with each better than the $1.90 per share on revenue of $20.3 billion anticipated. Growth was broad-based during the quarter as e-commerce demand and outbound package demand out of Asia held up strongly. Each of US package revenue, international package revenue and supply chain and freight sales rose by at least 15% over last year. Adjusted operating margins narrowed slightly to 11.3% from 12%, however.
General Electric posted a surprise profit in the third quarter, as CEO Larry Culp’s multi-year turnaround plan and cash preservation strategy showed signs of paying off despite ongoing weakness in the company’s aviation business. The company posted positive industrial free cash flow of $514 million, whereas an outflow of $960 million had been expected. GE expects industrial free cash flow will be at least $2.5 billion in the current quarter.

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9:31 a.m. ET: Stocks plunge at the open, Dow sheds 500+ points

Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:31 a.m. ET:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): -62.44 points (-1.84%) to 3,328.24
Dow (^DJI): -551.42 points (-2.01%) to 26,911.77
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -194.56 (-1.75%) to 11,231.82
Crude (CL=F): -$2.26 (-5.71%) to $37.31 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): -$33.00 (-1.73%) to $1,878.90 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -2.9 bps to yield 0.754%

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8:31 a.m. ET: Goods trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September, but remains wider than year-ago levels

The U.S. goods trade deficit narrowed to $79.4 billion in September from $83.1 billion in August, according to the Commerce Department’s monthly report on Wednesday. Consensus economists were bracing for the deficit to widen to $84.5 billion, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on global commerce.

Exports in September increased by $3.2 billion to $122.0 billion, while imports declined by $500 million to $201.4 billion.

Still, exports remain nearly 10% lower than the $135.4 billion they were at in September 2019. The headline trade deficit in September 2020 also remained wider than that of September 2019, when the trade deficit was $71.1 billion.

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