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U.S. stock futures ticked higher on Friday as a handful of major U.S. companies beat results forecasts, offsetting concerns about political and growth risks in Europe, China and Saudi Arabia that drove at 1 percent fall a day earlier.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 18, 2018. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK: The U.S. S & P 500 benchmark stock indexed on Friday as well as strong earnings from Procter & Gamble have been balanced by ongoing interest rates and geopolitical tensions denting U.S. economic growth.
Shares of Procter & Gamble jumped 8.3 percent after the consumer goods company reported a surprise rise in first-quarter sales. Procter & Gamble was one of the top boosts to the S & P 500, and its rise helped the S & P 500 consumer staples index 2.3 percent.
The sector, which has underperformed the broader S & P 500 this year, was set to increase their daily gain in more than two years.
"When companies like (Procter & Gamble) give good earnings and provide good guidance, that's a good thing for the market overall," said J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.
Yet recent jitters about interest rates, trade and geopolitical issues in Italy and Saudi Arabia, which weighed U.S. stocks this week, persisted.
The benchmark S & P 500 index slid below its 200-day moving average, a key statistical indicator of long-term price trends. Defensive sectors – utilities and real estate in addition to consumer staples – led the S & P in percentage earnings, signaling surety among investors.
"There is a lot of cross-currents right now, with Italy, housing weakness, interest rates," said Michael Antonelli, managing director of institutional sales at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
U.S. home sales fell in September by the most in the two years of the market. Home sales have fallen for six straight months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.47 points, 0.16 percent gold, 25.418.92, the S & P 500 lost 2.59 points, 0.09 percent gold, 2.766.19 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.27 points, 0.54 percent gold, to 7.444.87.
Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. climbed 8.6 percent, on track for their highest one-day percentage gain in two years, after the payments company.
However, the shares of Honeywell International Inc. were higher at 0.8 percent lower than the industrial conglomerate said it was slower growth in China and that it would likely cost it "hundreds of millions" of dollars in 2019.
Earnings for S & P 500 companies are expected to increase 22.2 percent year-over-year for the third quarter, according to Refinitiv data. Of the 84 companies that have reported earnings so far, 78.6 percent have beaten expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, has 2.18-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S & P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and 37 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 11 new highs and 187 new lows.
(Reporting by April Joyner, Medha Singh's Additional Reporting in Bengaluru, Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)
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