Wednesday Closing Bell: China Concerns Weigh on Markets Today

October 23, 2013: U.S. markets opened lower Wednesday morning as U.S. investors followed their international counterparts in worrying about a possible tightening of China’s monetary policy. China’s banks were also reported to have tripled their bad debt write-offs. Mortgage applications fell slightly last week and crude oil prices are falling and inventories are rising.

European, Asian, and Latin American all closed lower today.

Thursday’s calendar includes the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern).

• 8:30 a.m. – International trade
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 8:58 a.m. – Flash PMI manufacturing index
• 10:00 a.m. – Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
• 1:00 p.m. – 30-year TIPS auction
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Here are the closing bell levels for Wednesday:

• S&P500 1746.38 (-8.29; -0.47%)
• DJIA 15413.99 (-54.27; -0.35%)
• NASDAQ 3907.07 (-22.49; -0.57%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.499% (+0.15625)
• Gold $1,334.00 (-8.60; -0.6%)
• WTI Crude oil $96.86 (-1.44; -1.5%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3779 (-0.0003; -0.02%)

Big Earnings Movers: Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) is down 2.9% at $26.36 after weak guidance. Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) is down 16.9% at $61.78 on even darker guidance. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is down 6% at $83.82 on poor earnings and a softer outlook. Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is up 5.4% at $129.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $129.99 on good earnings and raised guidance.

Stocks on the Move: Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) is up 14.2% at $17.53 after signing a new deal with Samsung. Cole Real Estate Investments Inc. (NYSE: COLE) is up 8.9% at $13.96 after agreeing to a merger with American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCP).

In all, 148 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 10 stocks posted new lows.