Stock Market News for March 24, 2015 - Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined nearly 0.1% to close at 18,116.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) decreased almost 0.2% to 2,104.42. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,010.97; losing more than 0.3%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) gained 3% to settle at 13.41. A total of about 5.42 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the month-to-date average of 6.86 billion. However, advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 56% stocks that advanced, 41% declined.

In absence of adequate catalysts in the market, the U.S. dollar continued its trend to be the sole market mover on Monday. Volatility seen in the value of the dollar raised concerns that the fluctuations may hurt earnings of multinationals in upcoming quarters. The concerns led to the sell-off of stocks in the final session. Though the U.S. dollar index declined almost 0.9% on Monday, the dollar has remained significantly stronger against major currencies this year. The euro increased about 1.1% against the dollar to $1.0942. However, so far in 2015, the dollar has jumped around 12% against euro and increased nearly 27% from the year-ago level.

Meanwhile, weaker dollar helped the prices of WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil to gain 1.9% and 1.1% to $47.45 per barrel and $55.92 a barrel, respectively. However, rise in oil prices dragged down transportation stocks on Monday. Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJT) declined almost 2% yesterday and was one of the major decliners among the blue-chip sectors. Key stocks from the sector including Union Pacific Corporation (UNP), CSX Corp. (CSX) and Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) declined 4%, 4.2% and 3.5%, respectively.

Moreover, shares of Kansas City Southern (KSU) declined 8% after providing dismal guidance for revenue growth in 2015. The company now anticipates the revenues to witness low single-digit growth in 2015, compared to its earlier forecast of mid single-digit growth. The company was the worst performer among the S&P 500 stocks on Monday.

Discouraging performance of Kansas City Southern and decline in transportation stocks had a negative impact on the Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI). The sector declined 0.8% on Monday and was the biggest decliner among the S&P 500 sectors. Key industrial stocks including The Boeing Company (BA), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL), Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON) decreased 1.1%, 1.8%, 2% and 1%, respectively. Six out of 10 S&P 500 sectors registered losses yesterday.

Additionally, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) dropped 2.3% on Monday. Decline in biotech stocks was one of the main reasons behind Nasdaq’s retreat. Key biotech stocks including Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB), Celgene Corporation (CELG), Amgen Inc. (AMGN) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) lost 2.6%, 4.3%, 2.1% and 4%, respectively.

Separately, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales increased 1.2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million. However, the seasonally adjusted number was lower than the consensus estimate of 4.91 million. It was also reported that the sales figure rose 4.7% from the year-ago level.

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