US stocks take a breather as earnings flood in

By Stock News On Jan 30, 2024 5 0

US stocks were moderately lower on Tuesday, but hovered near record highs as investors waited for Microsoft to lead out Big Tech results as earnings season roars into gear.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after Monday’s winning session lifted the benchmark to another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched 0.1% lower, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also fell about 0.1%.

The “Magnificent Seven” tech megacaps — apart from Tesla (TSLA) — are expected to do much of the heavy lifting for the S&P 500 this earnings season after powering the recent stock rally. Investors will scour Microsoft’s (MSFT) report for signs of more payoff from its vast investments in AI. Results from Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) are also due after the bell on Tuesday, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) are on Thursday’s docket.

General Motors (GM) led out the flood of earnings Tuesday with results that handily beat expectations for sales and revenue in a fourth quarter marked by strikes. GM shares jumped more than 8% in early trading.

Meanwhile, investors are counting down to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The question of whether cuts will happen in March or May is currently the subject of intense debate on Wall Street as markets hang near records.

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Tue, January 30, 2024 at 10:13 AM EST

Consumer confidence hits highest level since Dec. 2021

In a busy week for the stock market, early readings on the economy are showing continued signs of resilience.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence came in at a reading of 114.8 in January, up from 108 last month and in line with economists expectations. It marked the highest reading for the index since December 2021.

Elsewhere in economic data, the the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released Tuesday revealed the US labor market ended December with 9.03 million job openings, an increase from the 8.93 seen last month and above Wall Street estimates for 8.8 million.

The print marks a noted a reversal from November’s report which had shown fewer openings and signs of the “better balance” between supply and demand that Fed chair Jerome Powell has often mentioned.
Tue, January 30, 2024 at 9:38 AM EST

Stocks take breather

US stocks opened moderately lower on Tuesday — just ahead of a slew of Big Tech earnings.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after delivering another all-time high on Monday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 0.1%.