Dow Jones News Today: Stock Prices Fall as Google Faces Fines of $2.7 Billion

Garrett Baldwin

In Dow Jones news today, stock prices fell as investors reacted negatively to news that Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) is facing the largest antitrust fine ever levied by the European Commission. In addition, the U.S. Senate delayed its vote on a new healthcare bill, and a massive ransomware attack battered global networks.

Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus Wednesday's economic calendar.

The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday

• Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) shares fell 2.4% after European regulators hit the company with a record antitrust fine. The European Commission hit the global Internet giant with a 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine for promoting its own shopping services over its smaller competitors.

• Crude oil prices increased for the fourth straight trading session thanks to a weaker U.S. dollar. However, expectations for a global glut continue to lurk despite efforts by OPEC to curb excessive global output. The global oil cartel and 11 non-member nations voted in May to extend the planned cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) through March 2018. The WTI crude oil price today added 1.9%. Brent crude gained 1.7%.

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• A massive ransomware attack rattled global networks and knocked out servers of Russia's largest oil company, upended service at Ukrainian banks, and crippled computers at advertising and shipping firms. The attack has been compared to the WannaCry malware attack in May that hit hundreds of thousands of devices in more than 190 countries. Even pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) said it was affected by the event. Despite the news, cyber stocks failed to rally. Shares of the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (NYSE: HACK) fell 1.1% on the day.
• Of course, the biggest news of the day was the announcement by the U.S. Senate that it will delay its vote on a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The upper chamber of Congress said it will wait until after the July 4 to vote after enough Republican members banded together to stop the vote. The news sent biotech stocks into a big slump. Shares of Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) fell more than 3%, while shares of iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (ETF) (Nasdaq: IBB) fell 2.7% on the day.

• In economic news, U.S. housing prices increased by 5.5% in April compared to the same period last year. However, that nice bump fell short of economists' expectations. The uptick is slightly below the figure reported in March. The strongest gains, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, were found in Seattle, Portland, and Dallas. The smallest gains were found in Cleveland. The missed expectations led to a small downturn in home construction stocks. Shares of D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) were flat on the day.

Four Stocks to Watch Tuesday: DRI, KBH, FB, MSFT

• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) shares pushed up another 2.9% after the company hiked its dividend by 15.2% and topped Wall Street quarterly earnings expectations. The owner of Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.18, a figure that beat estimates by three cents. The company also reported a 3.3% jump in same-location sales at its premiere restaurants.

• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) stock closed up 0.1% for the day on Tuesday. The homebuilder reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.28, topping Wall Street expectations by two cents. The firm also beat revenue expectations, reporting $930 million total. The report was positive in the wake of today's underperforming report on home sales.

• Tech giants faced a sell-off today as Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) all dipped. Even Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) wasn't immune. Shares dropped 1.8% on the day.

• Other companies reporting earnings after the bell include KB Home (NYSE: KBH), AeroVironment Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAV), and CalAmp Corp. (Nasdaq: CAMP).

Wednesday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)

• San Francisco Fed Bank President John Williams speaks at 3:30 a.m.
• MBA Mortgage Applications at 7:00 a.m.
• International Trade in Goods at 8:30 a.m.
• Pending Home Sales Index at 10 a.m.
• EIA Petroleum Status Report at 10:30 a.m.
• Two-Year FRN Note Auction at 11:30 a.m.
• Seven-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.

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Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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