Stock market today: S&P 500 gains; earnings reports mixed
By Yuri Kageyama And Matt Ott, The Associated Press on April 18, 2023.
TOKYO – Stocks are mostly higher on Wall Street Tuesday following a mixed set of earnings results from big companies and a stronger-than-expected report from the world’s second-largest economy. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in early trading. The Nasdaq also rose while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly lower. Goldman Sachs dropped 3% after its revenue fell short of analysts’ forecasts, though earnings topped expectations. Lockheed Martin rose following a profit report that topped analysts’ expectations, up nearly 3%. China’s economy grew 4.5% from January to March compared to the same period in 2022, its fastest growth in the past year. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. U.S. markets are poised to open higher Tuesday as more corporate earnings pour in and China reported better-than-expected growth to start the year. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.4% before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1%. Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America reported earnings early Tuesday, with both companies beating Wall Street’s profit expectations. Johnson & Johnson earned $2.68 per share in the period as U.S. sales grew 10% to $12.52 billion in the quarter. Shares rose nearly 2% before the bell. Like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan last week, Bank of America handily topped analyst expectations, earning 94 cents per share. Analysts were expecting earnings of 79 cents per share. The strong showing by major banks added a sense of calm after two regional bank failures last month. Though it’s still early in earnings season, results so far have been encouraging given the pessimism heading into the reporting period. Results have been mixed for regional banks, which on Monday reported billions in deposit outflows. Deposits at M&T Bank Corp AND State Street Corp. fell 3% each, though M&T Bank said the reasons were seasonal. Several more will report quarterly results later this week. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.5% to finish at 28,658.83. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.3% to 7,360.20. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.2% to 2,571.09. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.6% to 20,650.51, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,393.33. Oil prices fell. Traders have been focused on data out of China as the region’s chief engine for growth, and trading was muted until the release of its gross domestic product figures. China’s 2023 growth target is 5%. China’s first-quarter GDP, which measures the value of a nation’s products and services, rose 4.5%, according to official statistics. Analysts had expected 4% growth following 2.9% growth in the last quarter of 2022. Still, some analysts remained cautious. “This neither distracts from doubts around sustained growth recovery back above 5% nor does it adequately confirm recovery in private sector confidence critical to inspire a virtuous growth cycle,” said Tan Boon Heng at Mizuho Bank. Analysts say new trade patterns will emerge since markets have been rocked by various political uncertainties such as the war in Ukraine, threatening supply chains and triggering fluctuations in consumer prices and moves by the world’s central banks. “That period of relative stability may now be giving way to one of lasting instability resulting in lower growth, higher costs and more uncertain trade partnerships. Instead of more elastic global supply, we could face the risk of repeated supply shocks,” Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank, said in a market commentary. Even though inflation has been cooling, it still remains far above the Federal Reserve’s liking. The central bank next policy meeting, where it will decide whether or not to raise its benchmark lending rate again, is scheduled for May 2-3. Virtually nobody expects the Fed to cut rates next month, and probably not before the end of the year. At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each added 0.6%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 was unchanged. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 28 cents to $80.55 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, dipped 24 cents to $84.52 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 133.89 yen from 134.42 yen. The euro cost $1.0968, up from $1.0930. ___ Kageyama reported from Tokyo; Ott reported from Silver Spring, Md. 22-21
