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Nvidia rises after HSBC upgrade
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Lockheed Martin Announces Results
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VIX falls to lowest level since January 2022
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Indices: Dow up 0.08%, S&P up 0.11%, Nasdaq down 0.01%
(Updates with afternoon deals)
Louis Krauskop, Sruti Shankar, Ankhika Biswas
APRIL 18 (Reuters) – Disappointing quarterly reports from Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs are offset by gains in some major tech stocks as the first quarter earnings season heats up. So major US stock indices were little changed on Tuesday.
Shares of J&J fell 2.4%. The healthcare conglomerate has warned investors about the lingering cost impact of inflation this year. Goldman’s stock fell 1.2% after his Wall Street firm’s profits fell 19% as dealmaking and bond trading faltered.
The S&P 500 companies’ early first-quarter results came as investors braced for a bleak reporting season as they feared the economy might be on the brink of a recession.
“What we’re seeing here is the calm before the storm when it comes to earnings,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at the Commonwealth Financial Network. “The market is just trying to see if there’s an upside here. And I think it will be really profitable in the coming weeks.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.02 points, or 0.08%, to 34,013.2. The S&P 500 rose 4.46 points (0.11%) to 4,155.78. Nasdaq Composite fell 1.50 points (0.01%) to 12,156.22.
The CBOE volatility index, also known as the Wall Street Fear Index, fell to its lowest point since January 2022 during the session.
The heavyweight tech sector gained 0.4% as Nvidia Corp’s shares rose 3% after HSBC raised its recommendation for graphics chip makers from ‘cut’ to ‘buy’.
Health care sector fell 0.5% and utilities fell 0.6% due to J&J shares.
Earnings for the S&P 500 companies are expected to decline 4.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data on Friday.
The S&P 500 trades near two-month highs as investors brace for a deluge of earnings and see interest rates trajectory ahead of an expected 25 basis point rise at the Federal Reserve early next month. is evaluated.
St. Louis Federal Reserve Governor James Bullard told Reuters on Tuesday that the U.S. central bank should continue to raise rates on the back of recent data showing sustained inflation. Separately, Atlanta Federal Reserve Governor Rafael Bostic said the Fed was most likely on the verge of another rate hike.
In other earnings news, US arms maker Lockheed Martin’s first-quarter results beat Wall Street targets despite parts and labor shortages. Lockheed shares rose 2.7% for him.
Losers outnumber gainers on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.11 to 1. Losers dominated on the Nasdaq with a ratio of 1.37 to 1.
The S&P 500 hit 26 52-week highs and no new lows. The Nasdaq Composite posted 56 new highs and 112 new lows.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, New York; Sruthi Shankar, Ankika Biswas, and Vansh Agarwal, Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Vinay Dwivedi, and Richard Chang)
