News broke late yesterday that Greece had agreed to a new austerity plan with aggressive spending cuts and tax hikes. The market reversed to pare some losses, but Wall Street is again trading lower as investors are still concerned over the debt crisis in the European Union. In addition to Greece, which is bringing its plan for parliamentary approval, there still remains other troubled economies like Ireland and Portugal. Stocks are also being dragged down by the tech sector, which actually led gainers yesterday. Oracle (ORCL) announced strong earnings after the market closed yesterday, but shares are trading down by about 4.5 percent today as hardware sales fall. Other semiconductor and tech stocks are also falling lower as a result. Micron Technology (MU) shares are down over 13.5 percent as the company missed Q3 earnings estimates. Oil prices are showing some volatility, but are also ultimately down as yesterday’s announcement from the IEA and U.S. releasing 60 million combined barrels of oil could mean an oversupply of fuel. Oil is trading at just over $90 a barrel. Gold and silver prices are also down 1 percent as the U.S. dollar strengthens.
Major U.S. Stock Indices
DJIA: 11,936.93 (-0.94 percent)
S&P 500: 1,268.68 (-1.15 percent)
NASDAQ: 2,652.92 (-1.26 percent)
Russell 2000: 797.32 (-0.67 percent)
In other new:
- What does the antitrust investigation mean for Google (GOOG), and maybe to a lesser extent, web users? [Economist]
- Wall Street’s odd relationship with Silicon Valley. Case in point, did JPMorgan (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) undervalue IPO clients LinkedIn (LNKD) and Pandora (P)? [Fortune]
- High-end retailers like Prada (0913:HK) and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMUY:US)are looking to attract Asian shoppers and investors alike. [NY Times]
- Are Best Buy (BBY), Target (TGT), and Wal-Mart (WMT) nothing more than showrooms for Amazon (AMZN)? [Bezinga]
- Why the Greece’s austerity plan is already irrelevant to the markets. [CNBC]
Check back as more news develops.
