By Victor Reklaitis and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks extended losses on
Wednesday after President Barack Obama warned against "casual
indifference" toward Russia over military escalation in Crimea and
urged more economic sanctions.
Early morning gains on the back of a strong headline number for
durable-goods orders, as well as hopes for additional European and
Chinese stimulus measures, had evaporated by midafternoon.
Shares of King Digital Entertainment PLC (KING) slumped at the
first day of its trading. The maker of the popular "Candy Crush
Saga" game was last down 11% in its first day of trading on the New
York Stock Exchange. One analyst said King's debut was hit by
"extremely fast money."
The S&P 500(SPX) was last down 4 points, or 0.2%, to
1,861.33. The Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) shed 33.71 points, or 0.8%, to
4,200.53. The tech-heavy index's year-to-date gain of 0.6% is
trailing the benchmark's 0.7% gain since the start of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) dropped 50.11 points, or
0.3%, to 16,317.09.
Orders for big-ticket items rose 2.2% in February, powered by
higher bookings for autos and aircraft. That topped the flat result
expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Stripping out the
volatile transportation sector, orders rose a smaller 0.2%.
"Once you get beyond the headline number, the details are a bit
disappointing," said Anastasia Amoroso, global market strategist at
J.P. Morgan Funds. But she added that investors are encouraged,
because autos and aircraft orders -- "volatile or not, core or not"
-- still do matter and help the economy.
Amoroso also said while this week's economic reports have been
mixed, the Federal Reserve continues to signal that it sees overall
improvement. "What trumps it all is the Fed's conviction that we
are now on the path to a self-sustaining recovery," she told
MarketWatch.
Hopes for measures that could boost China's economy as well as
speculation of more moves by the European Central Bank were
contributing to positive sentiment, according to Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
"The big thing is that yesterday one of the ECB officials
indicated they will fight deflation, and so that's a sign of
increasing stimulus, and if China and the ECB both begin to
increase stimulus, that's an indication that the global economy can
perk up and the threat of deflation spreading can be halted,"
Cardillo said.
Follow MarketWatch's live blog of Wednesday's stock-market
action
King Digital is facing skepticism, with some experts describing
the company as a "one-trick pony." Amoroso of J.P. Morgan Funds
said King Digital's debut is getting attention, but she doesn't see
it having a big effect overall on sentiment.
Among other individual stocks, Facebook Inc.(FB) lost 4.2% after
the social-media giant said late Tuesday that it's buying
virtual-reality goggles maker Oculus VR Inc. for $2 billion.
On the upside, Five Below Inc. (FIVE) surged 13% after posting
fourth-quarter results late Tuesday that topped Wall Street
estimates late Tuesday. (Read more in the Movers & Shakers
column
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-below-surges-fuel-cell-stocks-inch-lower-2014-03-26.).
Volatile fuel-cell company stocks slumped, with Plug Power
(PLUGD) skidding 17%, at one point triggering Nasdaq's short-sale
circuit breaker. Ballard Power Systems Inc. (BLDP) plummeted 17%
after surging 32% a day earlier, and FuelCell Energy Inc. (FCEL)
slid 14% after gaining 20% on Tuesday.
Plug Power had surged 49%, its best daily percentage gain since
early January, following a MarketWatch report that it has a major
deal in the works.
In other markets, European stocks rose and Asian equities also
saw a largely positive session.
Oil (CLM4) prices rose, but gold (GCM4) was slightly lower. The
ICE dollar index (DXY), which measures the U.S. unit against a
basket of six major rivals, advanced.
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