U.S. stocks were in negative territory on Thursday morning on bad economic forecasts from the eurozone. The European Central Bank now projects 2019 gross domestic product growth of 1.1%, down 60 basis points from the previous guidance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.50% to 25,545, the S&P 500 index slid 0.40% to 2,760 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.46% to 7,471.
Shares of The Kroger Co. (KR, Financial) tumbled nearly 10% on Thursday morning after the company announced fourth-quarter results. Revenue declined 9.5% from the prior-year quarter to $28.09 billion, missing expectations by $310 million. Earnings were 48 cents per share, just 4 cents shy of estimates.
"Kroger solidly delivered on what we set out to do in 2018, which was an investment year that laid the groundwork for us to achieve our 2020 Restock Kroger targets including financials," Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said. "We reached our FIFO operating profit goal and finished the year with sales and business momentum.”
Looking ahead to fiscal 2019, the company expects sales growth between 2.0% and 2.25%. It projects net earnings will range from $2.15 to $2.25 per diluted share and FIFO operating profit to range from $2.9 billion to $3 billion.
Gainers
- Allergan PLC (AGN, Financial)
- Lennar Corp. (LEN, Financial)
- Cooper Companies Inc. (COO, Financial)
- Electronic Arts Inc. (EA, Financial)
Losers
- Mosaic Co. (MOS, Financial)
- Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN, Financial)
- Macy's Inc. (M, Financial)
- Capri Holdings Ltd. (CPRI, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.53%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.39%, Germany's Dax declined 0.60% and Spain's IBEX 35 slid 0.50%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.65%, India’s BSE Sensex advanced 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.89% and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.14%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
