US close: Stocks hit by Fitch debt downgrade

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street shares fell on Wednesday after Fitch cut the U.S. government's debt rating by one notch.







"Despite the poor eye candy and initial surprise, the recent US downgrade will unlikely cause a significant Treasuries sell-off or prompt a major shift in investor behaviour mainly because investors experienced a similar downgrade from S&P in 2011 and came away unscathed," said Stephen Innes, Managing Partner at SPI Asset Management.

"While Fitch's rating change does bring attention to the problem, it is not market-shattering news."

The Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.98% to 35,282.52, alongside a 1.38% drop for the S&P 500 to 4,513.39.

But it was the Nasdaq Composite that fared worst, erasing 2.17% to 13,973.45.

In parallel, the VIX volatility index, which was known among traders as Wall Street's 'fear gauge', bounced back by 15.51% to 16.09.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note meanwhile was climbed six basis points to 4.092%.

Overnight, ratings agency Fitch had cut the U.S. sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA+.

According to consultancy ADP, the private sector in the U.S. generated 324,000 jobs in July (consensus: 190,000).

"Today's print has no implications for our July forecast; we're still looking for 275K headline payrolls and 225K private," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

On the company front, AMD shares were off by 7% despite having beat analysts' estimates for its second quarter earnings.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $30.67 3.72% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $169.91 0.60% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $144.17 0.59% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $105.70 0.40% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $61.96 0.31% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $156.59 0.22% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $159.22 0.07% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $504.64 0.01% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $52.58 -0.15%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.39 -3.94% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $86.30 -3.07% Boeing Co. (BA) $231.38 -2.79% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $327.50 -2.63% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.70 -1.94% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $351.10 -1.85% Nike Inc. (NKE) $107.47 -1.73% American Express Co. (AXP) $166.75 -1.71% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $220.50 -1.68% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $159.73 -1.58%

S&P 500 - Risers

Waters Corp. (WAT) $291.77 6.33% AFLAC Inc. (AFL) $76.24 5.73% Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $142.76 5.72% Humana Inc. (HUM) $483.75 5.60% Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $127.71 4.27% Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) $95.14 3.83% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $30.67 3.72% Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) $67.04 3.60% Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $12.12 3.50% CVS Health Corp (CVS) $76.41 3.33%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.79 -11.82% Johnson Controls International plc (JCI) $63.55 -9.25% Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $42.98 -7.51% Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $49.74 -7.34% Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $126.31 -7.21% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $109.35 -7.02% Allstate Corp (The) (ALL) $106.51 -5.77% Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $69.64 -5.53% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $442.69 -4.81%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $30.67 3.72% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $65.68 3.12% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $358.40 3.07% Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $419.07 1.91% Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $232.42 1.40% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $75.35 1.34% Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $36.32 1.23% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $79.71 1.13% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $102.13 0.86% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $271.56 0.84%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00% Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $126.31 -7.21% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $38.32 -5.05% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.96 -4.95% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $442.69 -4.81% Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $7.41 -4.51% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $38.25 -4.47% Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $229.22 -4.41% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $146.69 -4.24% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $685.88 -4.19%