Inventories rise after the Fed's decision; Apple's results boost Dow and the technology sector



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US stocks rose slightly on Wednesday afternoon, as the US Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rates unchanged, suggesting a strong expansion of the domestic market, while taking into account the weakness in inflation and inflation. slowdown in business and household spending.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was scheduled to hold a press conference at 14:30. Eastern to explain the central bank's policy.

How do the main indexes behave?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, + 0.05%

increased by 56 points, to 26,650 points, a gain of 0.2%, while the S & P 500 index

SPX, -0.02%

increased by 6 points, or 0.2% to 2.952. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite index

COMP + 0.26%

rose 46 points, up 0.6% to 8,141.

On Tuesday, the S & P 500 index set a third consecutive record at 2,945.83, and the index also set a new intra-day high on Wednesday morning at 2,954.10. The Nasdaq rose 50.61 points to 8 146 points at the top of the session, while the Dow Jones gained 96.48 points to 26 689.39 points.

What motivates the market?

Investors seemed somewhat comforted by the statement accompanying the Federal Reserve's decision to leave the benchmark federal funds policy rate at between 2.25% and 2.5%, as key benchmarks recovered some of their gains in the early morning as a result of the decision, that they had given up in the hours that preceded it.

First catch: Apple is optimistic, and it's not because of the iPhone

The Fed's board has chosen to highlight data showing that the price inflation rate has fallen and remains below the central bank's target of 2%, which allows it to refrain from future rate increases, although employment and GDP growth remained strong.

Over the past six weeks, Fed officials have insisted on the need for patience, indicating that they wanted to leave rates unchanged until they are certain of the economic outlook. Many economists expect the Fed to remain on hold for some time, perhaps until the end of 2020, while market players are betting on the potential for rate cuts.

Apple Dow Component

AAPL, + 6.72%

attracted attention after the iPhone maker announced a further decline in earnings and revenue, but exceeded expectations for first quarter performance. In addition, Apple said the worst was over for its operations in China, and that its service business was booming, with stock bulls being seen as a key part of the company's growth. Shares rose 7% Wednesday morning.

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What stocks are under discussion?

Actions of CVS Health Corp.

CVS, + 5.51%

rose 5.5% after the pharmacy and health services giant reported first-quarter earnings and sales exceeding Wall Street's expectations, while improving its outlook for 2019.

Estée Lauder Cos. Inc..

EL -0.51%

Stocks fell 0.4%, reversing gains of 4.9% in the early morning after the make-up maker reported first-quarter revenue higher than analysts' expectations, while forecasting growth in turnover of 7% to 8% during the year 2019.

Molson Coors Brewing Co.

TAP, -6.43%

down 5.5%, after the company reported lower than expected first quarter results.

Actions of Humana Inc.

HUM, -2.96%

fell 2.6%, even after the insurer posted Wednesday morning earnings and first quarter earnings higher than Wall Street expectations, while raising its guidance for the entire year. ;year.

Yum! Brands Inc.

YUM, -2.65%

Shares fell 2.6% on Wednesday morning, after Taco Bell's parent company announced its first-quarter results.

Actions of Royal Carbanion Cruises Ltd.

RCL + 7.47%

rose 7.9% on Wednesday after the tour operator announced stronger first quarter results, revenues and net returns than expected.

innkeeper Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.

HLT, + 6.13%

Wednesday announced earnings growth of 16% in the first quarter, well above the forecasts of Wall Street. The share has increased by 6%.

Group of chips Qualcomm Inc.

QCOM, + 0.38%

social player Zynga Inc.

ZNGA, -2.65%

clothing manufacturer FitBit Inc.

IN SHAPE, + 0.66%

and mobile payment group Square Inc.

SQ + 1.88%

will report after closing.

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What do analysts say?

"Investors are looking at the Fed's economic outlook, which points to" sustained expansion of economic activity, "offset by sluggish global economic conditions and" moderate inflationary pressures, "wrote Jason Pride, director of Private Wealth investments at Glenmede in comments sent by email.

"With the US economy reaching or nearing full employment, the anticipation of future rate changes will consist essentially of a referendum on inflation, which has traditionally remained below the Fed's target of 2% over the past decade. this cycle. "

"We are getting a lot of mixed signals in terms of macroeconomic data," Globalt Investments' senior portfolio manager, Tom Martin, told MarketWatch, highlighting the surprisingly solid report on ADP employment and the ISM report on manufacturing, worse than expected, among the latest examples of conflicting data that make it difficult to read the trajectory of the US economy.

"The corporate earnings season was also indicative of this trend," he said. "Apple is your source of bullish data for the news of the company, but even in the sectors, you have very good reports that indicate a decent economy and very bad reports that indicate a not very good economy."

What else on the economic calendar?

Payroll firm ADP released its estimate of private-sector job growth in April, showing that the US economy had created 275,000 new jobs, well above the consensus estimate of 176,000, according to FactSet. However, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics and architect of the ADP report, said the figure "overestimates" the case of job growth and predicts that the government's jobs report released Friday will show growth less robust employment.

Markit's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for April reached 52.6, up slightly from last month's almost two-year low, and above consensus expectations for 52 reading, 4, according to FactSet data.

The Institute of Supply Management, better monitored, reported a return of 52.8%, well below consensus expectations of 54.7%, according to a survey by MarketWatch of economists, and below 55, 3% in March.

The Commerce Department said construction spending fell 0.9% in March from February, which is lower than economists' expectations of a 0.4% drop, according to a MarketWatch survey.

How are the other markets doing?

Most Asian stock markets were closed during the holidays, although the Australian S & P / ASX 200

XJO, + 0.80%

0.8%, while the NZK-50 New Zealand

NZ50GR, -0.47%

decreased by 0.5%. European stock markets were also largely closed for the May Day celebrations, while the UK FTSE 100 closed.

UKX, -0.44%

was a little lower.

The price of crude oil

CLM9, -0.50%

was down Wednesday, with gold prices

GCM9, -0.60%

The US dollar

DXY, + 0.08%

was also behind, compared to his peers.

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