New York Report: US stocks slide on geopolitical concerns
US STOCKS ended lower yesterday, with concerns over a sanctions faceoff between Russia and the west erasing morning gains on upbeat jobs data.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 75.46 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 16,367.88, the S&P 500 lost 10.69 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 1,909.55, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.09 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 4,334.9.
Health insurer stocks were poor performers, dipping after Goldman Sachs downgraded Aetna to “neutral” and cut earnings estimates on a number of its peers.
Aetna shares slid 4.0 per cent to $75.22, Unitedhealth Group shares lost 2.7 per cent to $79.26 and Cigna shares fell 3.0 per cent to $88.75.
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox surged 5.1 per cent to $33.97, after the film, news and entertainment company’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Netflix rallied 4.5 per cent to $449.67 after chief executive Reed Hastings. in a Facebook post making comparisons with its great rival, said its subscriber revenue totalled $1.146bn last quarter, edging out HBO’s $1.141bn.
Mylan slipped three per cent to $46.49, after the generic-drug company posted a 30 per cent fall in earnings as higher expenses masked a revenue rise.
And Costco Wholesale fell 1.5 per cent to $117.80, after posting a five per cent increase in July sales, excluding petrol, falling short of analysts’ estimates for six per cent growth.