Stocks opened in negative territory, but the losses were modest. The averages were unable to establish any upside momentum before the ISM data for March showed inline manufacturing data, but prices paid well above expectations. The data, along with concerns over a potential trade war with China, brought out the sellers, who soon pushed the market to session lows. The selling pressure has not abated, as the S&P is now down 2.5% and the Nasdaq has lost nearly 3% in the first session of the second quarter. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., Markit’s manufacturing PMI rose 0.3 points to 55.6 in the final March reading. While not quite as good as the preliminary 55.7 March print, the reading is up from 55.3 in February. ISM’s manufacturing index fell 1.5 points to a still-robust 59.3 for March from a 14-year high of 60.8 in February. Construction spending increased 0.1% in February versus the unchanged reading from January. In Asia, China’s manufacturing PMI rose to 51.5 in March, up from 50.3 in February and above the 50.5 anticipated by analysts. China’s services PMI climbed to 54.6 in March from 54.4 in the prior month. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Humana (HUM) advanced 5.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night that the company and Walmart (WMT) were in merger talks. However, Reuters and Bloomberg both said the health insurer and retail giant may only be discussing a broader partnership instead of a buyout deal… Amazon (AMZN) is seeing pressure again today, slipping 4.5% near noon after President Donald Trump criticized the company once again in a series of tweets on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, another tech high-flier, Tesla (TSLA), is down a similar 4.5% after the company acknowledged in a blog post late Friday that its autopilot function was involved in a fatal crash that occurred with one of its vehicles and Tesla CEO Elon Musk joked on April Fool’s about his company having “gone completely and totally bankrupt.” MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was MediciNova (MNOV), which surged 18% after it said that the Phase 2 trial of MN-002 will be ended early after having achieved positive results. Also higher was Commvault (CVLT), which gained 11% after it said that it has had “initial discussions” with activist investor Elliott Management. Among the notable losers was Alkermes (ALKS), which fell 22% after it received a refusal to file letter from the FDA for ALKS 5461, its potential depression treatment. Also lower was Synnex (SNX), which dropped 16.5% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 546.05, or 2.27%, to 23,557.06, the Nasdaq was down 204.26, or 2.89%, to 6,859.19, and the S&P 500 was down 66.72, or 2.53%, to 2,574.15.
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