At 9:45 a.m. ET markets are down across the board today. The Nasdaq Composite is down .53% while the S&P 500 is performing slightly better. Let’s look at the performance of each major index:
- Nasdaq Composite: -98.20 (-.53%)
- S&P 500: -18.18 (-.31%)
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -258.43 (-.60%)
- Russell 2000: Down 10.29 (-.46%)
There is plenty of market news as we’re in the peak of earnings season. Let’s look at some of the stocks moving the market the most today and macroeconomic storylines to watch.
McDonald’s The Dog of the Dow
The Dow’s underperformance relative to the Nasdaq and S&P 500 in early trading is mostly thanks to McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). The company is down 6.40% after an e. coli outbreak was linked to the company. Specifically, the CDC warned an outbreak in Western states was linked to Quarter Pounder burgers.
Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) is another restaurant stock to watch. The company issued dismal earnings last night. Same-store sales were down 7% (way below expectations of a 3.5% decline) while sales in China dropped 14%. Starbucks was initially down big after releasing earnings, but has clawed back to near even during the morning. Its stock is down .83% slightly before 10 a.m. ET. Investors are choosing to focus on the turnaround plan of new CEO Brian Niccol rather than recent performance.
Another consumer stock to watch today is Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). The company topped both earnings and revenue expectations but is facing some headwinds. Specifically, volumes of concentrate sales were down 2% (versus estimates of being flat). It seems investors are focusing more on the sluggish demand picture as shares are down 2.8% in early trading.
Interest Rates Weight on Indexes
The big macroeconomic number to watch right now is the yield on 10-year Treasuries, which broke above 4.2% in trading on Tuesday. That’s the highest level since late July. The rise in long-term Treasuries is driven by:
1.) The growing belief that U.S. government spending levels are unsustainable
2.) Rising inflation expectations as U.S. economic growth revives
3.) Expectations falling on how much the Federal Reserve will cut rates across the next 24 months
The rise in long-term rates is especially problematic for sectors like residential real estate. Zillow has the national 30-year mortgage rate at 6.33%. It had recently bottomed out at 5.53%, so this is a significant jump in a short amount of time.
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The post Live Market Updates: Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow Jones All Down | KO, SBUX, MCD appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..