The U.S. stock market was hit hard on Monday as investors
reacted to uncertainty emanating out of Italy on election
day.
The Dow lost more than 200 points on fears that a divided
Italian parliament could get in the way of fiscal reforms and
hamper EU stability. The U.S. dollar and Treasuries were both
higher on the session on risk aversion.
The VIX surged more than 35 percent as money flowed out of
stocks and into safer assets.
Major Averages
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 216 points, or 1.55
percent, to 13,784.
The S&P 500 lost 28 points, or 1.83 percent, to finish at
1,488.
The Nasdaq Composite shed almost 46 points to 3,116.
Commodities
Crude oil prices were little changed on Monday to start off
the trading week. Late in the day, NYMEX crude futures, the U.S.
benchmark, were down around 0.12 percent to $93.00. Brent
contracts had risen around 0.17 percent to $114.34. Natural gas
jumped on the session, adding almost 4 percent to $3.41.
Precious metals climbed on Monday, but remain in a downtrend.
At last check, COMEX gold futures had risen 1.45 prcent and were
trading at $1,596. Silver futures rose around 2 percent to
$29.13.
Grain prices were largely lower on the day, with the only
gainer being corn which traded up 0.40 percent. Wheat lost almost
2 percent on the session. Soft commodities mostly traded within a
1 percent range on the day, although cotton fell almost 2
percent.
Bonds
Treasury prices rose sharply throughout the day on Monday and
closed near session highs. Late in the day, the iShares Barclays
20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:
TLT
) was up 1.72 percent to $119.04. The surge in prices sent yields
lower.
The yield on the 2-Year Note fell one basis point to 0.24
percent. The yield on the 5-Year Note plunged six basis point to
0.78 percent.
Yields on the 10-Year Note and 30-Year Bond fell nine and
eight basis points to 1.90 percent and 3.10 percent,
respectively.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar rose on risk aversion to start off the trading
week. Near the close of the equity market, the PowerShares DB US
Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:
UUP
), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket
of foreign currencies, was up 0.45 percent to $22.33.
The closely watched EUR/USD wass last trading down 0.44
percent to $1.3121. The greenback, however, fell around 0.85
percent against the yen on the day.
Volatility and Volume
The VIX exploded more than 35 percent higher on the day to
above 19.
Volume was lighter than usual despite the sell-off. Only
around 83.5 million SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:
SPY
) shares traded hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 131
million.
Stock Movers
Affymax (NASDAQ:
AFFY
) plunged more than 85 percent after the company pulled its
anemia drug in the wake of reports of severe allergic reactions
in some kidney-disease patients.
Amgen (NASDAQ:
AMGN
) rose 3 percent in the wake of the news from Affymax. Amgen has
a competitive drug on the market.
Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE:
HTZ
) rose a little less than 2 percent after gapping higher in the
wake of the company's Q4 earnings results.
Elan (NYSE:
ELN
) climbed 5 percent after pharmaceutical investor Royalty Pharma
LLC dislosed that it had approached the biotech company with a
$6.55 billion takeover offer. Royalty said that it has not
received a formal response to its proposal.
Shares of Dillard's (NYSE:DDS lost more than 9 percent after
the company released its fiscal Q4 earnings results.
3D Systems (NYSE:
DDD
) fell 9 percent after the company's quarterly report.
Zynga (NASDAQ:
ZNGA
) climbed almost 8 percent on Monday as investors reacted to
online gaming being legalized in Nevada last week.
(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
advice. All rights reserved.
Gain access to more investing ideas, tools & education.
Get Started on Marketfy, the first ever curated
& verified Marketplace for everything trading.