The stock markets in the United States fluctuated and eventually ended the trading down today amid disappointing corporate earnings.
Sign up for our free newsletter
In an interview with Bloomberg, Matthew Kaufler, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors commented, “We’ve hit a bit of a soft patch. It’s hard to parse out some of what’s going on from earnings. I don’t think there’s a groundswell or major shift happening in the market.”
Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the number of new housing constructions increased 6.5% to 1.21 million units at an annualized rate. The figure was higher than expected and the second-highest level over the past eight years.
Thomas Costerg, a senior U.S. economist at Standard Chartered, suggested that the housing market will “remain relatively strong.” According to him, “It’s a steady grind higher. It’s quite a steady, healthy trend.”
[drizzle]John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, stated yesterday that the central bank is making progress toward fulfilling its mandates to stabilize prices and achieve maximum employment in the country. He added that the central bank would increase interest rates in the near future.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said regulation is not the only factor causing the frequent disturbances in the U.S. Treasury markets.
In his prepared remarks for a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Powell said, Although regulation seems to have had little to do with the events of October 15 [2014], I would agree that it is one factor driving recent changes. The same regulations have also greatly strengthened the major banks and made another financial crisis far less likely.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 230.54 (+0.08%)
- S&P 500- 2,033.66 (+0.03%)
- NASDAQ- 4,905.47 (+0.38%)
- Russell 2000- 1,164.25 (+0.17%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,255.72 (-0.50%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,345.13 (-0.11%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,147.68 (-0.16%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 18,207.15 (+0.42%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 22,989.22 (-0.37%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,577.70 (+1.23%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of International Business Machines declined more than 5% to $140.68 per share after the company reported disappointing financial results for the third quarter and reduced its guidance for the full-year. IBM posted non-GAAP earnings of $3.34 per share on $19.3 billion revenue. The tech giant is now expecting its full-year non-GAAP EPS to be around $14.75 to $15.75 per share, lower than its previous guidance of $15.75 to $16.50 per share.
The stock price of Tesla Motors closed $213.03 per share, down by more than 6%. Consumer Reports withdrew its recommendation for the Model S due to poor reliability. The consumer magazine issued a worse-than-average rating on the reliability of the Model S after 1,400 Model S owners shared their complaints about the electric vehicle.
United Technologies gained nearly 4% to $95.62 per share. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $1.59 per share, higher than the $1.54 per share expected by Wall Street analysts.
[/drizzle]
