NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were mixed at the end of a choppy session on Monday (April 24), ahead of closely-watched corporate earnings and economic data in the coming days.
After trading sideways much of last week, investors are gearing up for a week that could prove more dynamic with earnings reports from tech giants like Amazon and Google parent Alphabet, along with major economic data releases.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.44 points, or 0.2%, to 33,875.40 while the S&P 500 gained 3.52 points, or 0.09%, at 4,137.04. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 35.25 points, or 0.29%, to 12,037.20.
Edward Moya of the Oanda trading platform noted that large tech companies have outperformed the broader market thus far in 2023, in part based on expectations for an easing of Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate policy.
“For the rally to continue we need to see a few hundred basis points in rate cuts, which is not necessarily going to happen if the Fed chooses inflation over financial stability over the next year,” he said.
Among individual companies, shares of Fox Corporation dropped 3% after Fox News confirmed that top-rated commentator Tucker Carlson was leaving the network days after the outlet paid a huge settlement to end a defamation case.
Carlson was the best-known personality on Fox’s presenting roster, hosting a prime-time evening show that resonated with the broadcaster’s substantial number of right-wing viewers.
Getty Images surged 31% following an announcement by Trillium Capital that it has offered around US$4 billion to acquire the photo and content library.
Tesla Inc finished down 1.5% after the automaker raised its 2023 capital expenditure forecast to ramp up output, making it the second biggest drag on the benchmark S&P 500 behind Microsoft Corp.
Shares in Microsoft, up more than 17% so far this year, were under pressure on Monday as investors appeared anxious about its results, due out on Tuesday. Another heavyweight laggard was Amazon.com Inc, which is on deck to report this week along with Alphabet Inc, and Meta Platforms Inc .
A rally in these stocks has supported Wall Street this year, so investors are worried about whether the gains can continue given the gloomy economic outlook.
“People are a little tentative that the outperformance may not continue in earnings season, which thus far has been quite a bit better than expected. Granted the bar was low,” said Randy Frederick, managing director, trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
He also pointed to anxiety about upcoming economic data such as first-quarter growth and inflation readings.
After closing up 12.2%, First Republic Bank shares lost ground in after-the-bell trading following the closely watched regional bank's quarterly report, which showed its deposits fell 41% in the first quarter.
Besides corporate earnings, this week's schedule also includes an advance estimate of first-quarter US economic growth, alongside consumer confidence and personal income data. – AFP, Reuters