Bears in control, Netflix nosedives
Bearish sentiment is dominating the markets as stocks, oils and metals are enduring large declines. The mood in the markets has been progressively getting worse recently as traders are preparing themselves for the prospect of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates three or four times this year, there is speculation the first rise will be in March. The pessimism peaked today as European equities buckled under the pressure that has been impacting US shares for the last few sessions. The S&P 500 is down 0.1%, while the DAX has tumbled 2.3% and the CAC is off 1.9% - it seems that European markets have caught the bearish bug from Wall Street. The FTSE 100 is below 7500 for the first time in over one week. The weakness in oil and mining stocks is dragging on the British market.
Netflix shares are taking a beating as the company’s subscriber outlook greatly undershot forecasts. The streaming service anticipates adding 2.5 million new paid subscribers in the first quarter, while analysts were predicting 6.93 million. Keep in mind, Netflix added almost 4 million subscribers in the final quarter of last year, so that guidance represents a major decline in business. Other aspects of the update were strong, as earnings per share (EPS) was $1.33, easily topping the 82 cents forecast. A lot of the hype surrounding Netflix is its impressive subscriber growth rate, but now that seems to be waning, and dealers are dumping the stock.
WTI and Brent crude are down over 1% as the oil contracts continue to pullback from the seven-year highs that were racked up during the week amid squeezed supply levels and heightened political tensions. Gold and silver are in the red following the two-month highs that were registered yesterday. It is a little surprising that the metals are offside as they often rally whenever there is a sell-off in the US dollar, but the weakness in the greenback has not been able to entice buyers.
