Stocks slide as S&P 500 posts 6th straight loss
NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the S&P 500 posting its sixth straight loss as nervous investors continued to monitor the run-up to the 2016 election and wait for news from the Federal Reserve, which concludes a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 105 points, or 0.6%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.7%.
Increasingly, investors’ focus has been the presidential election, as polls between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appear to have tightened following last week’s news that the FBI had opened a new investigation into Clinton’s private email server. The narrowing in the race has introduced a new element of uncertainty into the market, something that analysts say is likely to keep trading in check.
There were signs of nervousness in the market. Gold prices rose more 1% and the Mexican peso, which has become a proxy for Trump’s chances to win, has been falling steadily against the U.S. dollar since Friday. The peso is down 1.2% against the dollar, a significant move in currency trading.
“While Hillary Clinton is still expected to win the final vote, email concerns notwithstanding, next week’s outcome could well be too close for comfort,” said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
Investors are also keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve as policymakers started its two-day meeting on Tuesday, where it is widely expected the nation’s central bank will keep interest rates stable.
U.S. manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace since July, a sign that American factories are coping with economic weakness overseas and a strong dollar. The Institute for Supply Management says its manufacturing index came in at 51.9 up from 51.5 in August. Anything above 50 signals growth. Production and export orders grew faster in October.
Shares of newspaper company Tronc (TRNC), which publishes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, plunged 12.4% after Gannett (GCI) said it would stop its bid to buy the company. Gannett fell 2.2%.
Drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) fell 2.1% after the company reported third-quarter profits plunged 38%, despite higher sales. The mediocre results missed Wall Street expectations and Pfizer lowered the top end of its 2016 profit forecast.
U.S. benchmark oil futures were down 0.3% to $46.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. government bond prices rose, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 1.82% from 1.83% Monday.