Concerns regarding Syria resulted in losses across the board today. Political and military threats in the Middle East by the leaders of Western Nations — including hints of a U.S. airstrike — against Syrian President Bashar Assad led to an early sell-off, and the markets fell further as the day progressed.
Oil rose amid the turmoil,with West Texas Intermediate prices jumping 2.8% to $108 per barrel, and Brent gaining 3.1% to end at $114 per barrel.
The Nasdaq led the way down, tumbling 2.16% to close at 3578.52 and sending the index into negative territory for August. The S&P 500 fell 1.59% to close at 1630.48 — its lowest level since July 3 — and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.14% to end at 14,776.13.
While losses were broad across virtually all sectors, technology stocks took center stage thanks to Facebook (FB, -4.11%), Apple (AAPL, -2.86%), Microsoft (MSFT, -2.61%), Google (GOOG, -1.87%) and Oracle (ORCL, -1.73%).
Bank stocks also took a big hit, with Wells Fargo (WFC, -3.02%), Citigroup (C, -2.74%), Bank of America (BAC, -2.62%) and JPMorgan (JPM, -2.32%) all losing ground by day’s end.
Next up, JCPenney (JCP), slid over 1% after Pershing Square Capital’s Bill Ackman unloaded his 18% stake, losing nearly $500 million on the sale of those shares to Citigroup.
Even good news did little to improve the market mood, as luxury retailer Tiffany (TIF) fell just over 1% despite posting higher quarterly profits for the second quarter and increasing its full-year earnings guidance.
Three Up
- Stereotaxis (STXS): Up 9.72% (35 cents) to $3.95
- Kani Technologies (KNDI): Up 2.89% (13 cents) to $4.63
- Goodyear Tire (GT): Up 1.98% (37 cents) to $19.01
Three Down
- National Bank of Greece (NBG): Down 9.54% (39 cents) to $3.70
- Canadian Solar (CSIQ): Down 7.21% (94 cents) to $12.09
- United Continental (UAL): Down 7.20% ($2.15) to $27.71
Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing he was long MSFT and AAPL.
