China’s trade slump has bled over into September with dollar-denominated imports diving 20 percent. That’s the 11th consecutive drop in imports and exports also declined 3.7 percent. This caused all of the Asian markets to drop.
European markets followed Asia’s lead, with all the major indices falling. The U.K. inflation rate fell and German economic morale fell to a one-year low.
U.S. stock markets continued the global selling with the S&P 500 dropping 10 points to 2,007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding 82 points to 17,049 and the Nasdaq declining 28 points to 4,810.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton tried to put the good spin on its earnings, but the market sent the stock down 3 percent to $161. Revenues did rise 3 percent on an organic basis, but that was less than the estimates of analysts, who thought revenues should have risen 6 percent. The effect of a slowing Chinese economy was felt by LVMH, with sales of leather goods and watches falling in China. Europe and Japan did pick up some of those Chinese shoppers, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the spending cutbacks in China. The company is planning a conference call today in Paris.
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Alibaba is showing no signs of worry about investors turning against it. China’s biggest e-commerce company is opening three offices in Europe over the next few months. Alibaba is also starting its runup to “Single’s Day” on Nov. 11, which is a huge Chinese shopping day not unlike America’s Black Friday. Alibaba is also trying to make it more of a global event, with many U.S. retailers and brands beginning to take part. Last year, Alibaba said it racked up $9 billion in sales on that day last year. While Alibaba is stepping up to defend itself against naysayers, the stock still slid 2.6 percent in early trading to $58.41.
Get ready to see more Dollar Tree stores around. The discount chain is re-branding the acquisitions it has made so that they are all Dollar Tree stores. This includes 222 Deals stores and hundreds of Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree stock is up 41 cents in early trading to $63.46; however, the stock has tumbled 22 percent over the past six months.
Twitter’s stock is rising this morning as new chief executive officer Jack Dorsey is cutting 8 percent of the workforce, or 336 employees, in a move to cut costs. While the stock is moving higher this morning on the news, up 4.8 percent to $30.13, some see it as a move of desperation. Twitter’s expenses had jumped 44 percent during the first half of the year and the hope is that by trimming costs, there will be more money to develop popular features and compete with other services like Snapchat.