Wall Street opens in red on security worries, shruggs off upbeat U.S. data
On Tuesday U.S. stocks opened lower as investors dropped risky assets after Turkey shot down a Russian jet, even as data pointed to stronger U.S. economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 48.5 points, or 0.27 percent, at 17,744.18, the S&P 500 was down 7.45 points, or 0.36 percent, at 2,079.14 and the Nasdaq composite index was off 32.15 points, or 0.63 percent, at 5,070.33.
Earlier, data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a somewhat faster 2.1% pace in the third quarter instead of the initial reading of 1.5%, the U.S. government said Tuesday morning, mainly due to a jump in the value of business inventories.
European stock markets were all in the red today (with German DAX down 1.4%, French CAC down 1.6% and British FTSE 100 0.6% lower), as investors piled into safe-havens like government bonds and gold following the reports Turkey downed a Russian war jet near the Syrian border stating it had violated its airspace.
"There was a knee-jerk reaction" in the markets following the reports, said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, who noted the U.S. on Monday issued a global travel alert on the potential for terrorist attacks.
"That’s quite a move to make" on Thanksgiving week, van Dulken said. "But it’s a sign of the times. Brussels is likely to be in lockdown next week. When we get events like this highlighting the fragility of situation…it adds fuel to the fire, unfortunately."
