The stock markets in the United States rebounded today as investors continue to evaluate corporate earnings, and manufacturing data showed that orders dropped lower than the expectation of economists last December.
Today, data from the census bureau showed that the orders of factory goods declined 1.5% in December. The decline is less than the 1.8% estimated by economist polled by Bloomberg.
Yesterday, the stock markets suffered significant declined as investors became concerned about the economic growth of the United States after the Institute for Supply Management reported that the manufacturing index for the month of January declined to 51.3%.
In a telephone interview with Bloomberg, Joseph Tanious, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management commented, “The biggest concern for investors right now is, is this the beginning of a bigger pullback in the market? If you look at economic growth, the earnings season and the health of corporate America, all those things appear to be doing quite well. Our advice to investors is to use the dip as the buying opportunity.”
On the other hand, Ethan Anderson, senior portfolio manager at Rehmann Financial opined, “Main Street is still chugging along. Earnings have been fine. You put all these together and I’m just not seeing anything that’s suggesting that the train is off the track. We’re pretty much in a very healthy pullback. To me, it’s refreshing.”
Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Bank of Richmond, stated that the decline in the global stock market will not prevent the central bank from further tapering its monthly bond-buying program.
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 15,445.24 (+0.47%)
- S&P 500- 1,755.20 (+0.76%)
- NASDAQ- 4,031.52 (+0.86%)
- Russell 2000- 1,102.52 (+0.72%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 2,962.49 (-0.05%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,449.27 (-0.25%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,127.91 (-0.64%)
Asia Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 14,008.47 (-4.18%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 21,397.77 (-2.89%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,202.45 (-1.14%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) climbed 5.51% to $16.09 per share over reports that the company is planning to sell Vaio personal computer (PC) business to Lenovo Group Limited (ADR) (OTCMKTS:LNVGY). Sony denied the reports and stated that it “continues to address various options for the PC business, but the press report on a possible PC business alliance between Sony and Lenovo is inaccurate.”
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) gained almost 9% to $72.07 per share after the company reported strong quarterly financial results. The restaurant operator earned $0.86 per share excluding special items, higher than the $0.79 earnings per share consensus estimate of analysts.
On the other hand, the shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) surged 17.22% to $89.87 per share after the retailer reported quarterly earnings that beat the estimates of analysts. Michael Kors posted $1.11 earnings per share compared with the $0.86 earnings per share expected by analysts.
