US close: Markets finish mixed on busiest day of earnings season

US stocks ended Thursday mixed after a choppy session of trading, as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve's policy statement alongside a heavy buffet of earnings releases and some mixed jobs data.

Dow Jones I.A.

43,750.86

04:30 15/10/20

n/a

Nasdaq 100

20,896.67

12:15 14/11/24

-0.66%

-139.49

Thursday was the busiest day on the earnings calendar, with 60 S&P 500 companies due to report quarterly results.

Recent rising rig data meant the crude prices were wallowing, with West Texas Intermediate down 2% at $41.10 and Brent sliding 1.83 to $42.69.

Following the fruitless previous session when a juicy set of Apple earnings failed to froth up the market, Thursday saw the tech giant while away near the top of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, though the index was weighed down by oil stocks, falling 0.09% to 18,456.35.

The S&P 500 was 0.16% higher at 2,170.06, while the Nasdaq 100 finished up 0.39% at 4,721.41.

Overnight the Fed's rate setting committee decided to stand pat at its policy meeting on Wednesday evening, though it did note that hiring conditions had improved and the economy had been growing at a moderate rate, which was seen as a sign that the Fed was not too worried about the UK’s vote to leave the European Union on 24 June.

The Fed added that near-term risks to the economic outlook had diminished, signalling that interest rates could rise in coming months.

FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga pointed out that the dollar had displayed increased stability: "Wednesday’s hawkish tilted FOMC statement has bolstered sentiment towards the dollar with further appreciations expected as US data improves," he said.

"Investors may direct their attention towards the unemployment claims which could compound to the attributes needed for the Fed to make a move in 2016. US labour continues to display signs of resilience in a period of global uncertainty and if next week’s NFP report follows this pattern then the Fed could be closer to breaking the tradition of central bank caution."

US jobless claims rose by more than expected last week, according to the Labor Department. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 262,000 in the week the 23 July, compared to an upwardly revised 252,000 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims – which include people already receiving unemployment checks - increased by 7,000 to 2.14m in the week ended 16 July, slightly below forecasts of 2.13m.

“Overall, the ongoing decline in initial and continuing claims indicates substantial underlying strength in labour markets, at least from the separations side,” said Barclays Research.

Ford screeched 8.16% lower towards the bottom of the S&P list as a weak showing from China put the brakes on second quarter results, despite a better showing from Europe and South America. Sales incentives also led to lower profit margins, dragging earnings for the latest quarter down to 49 cents a share from 54 cents last year and below analysts forecasts.

Social networking group Facebook rose 1.35% after a big second quarter release overnight that easily surpassed analyst estimates, with total revenue growing 59.2% to $6.44bn, with mobile advertising revenue representing about 84% of the total. Results from subsidiaries Instagram and Whatsapp, as well as the Facebook Messenger app, all contributed to bringing in solid advertising income.

Scraping the bottom of the Nasdaq was Whole Foods Market, down 9.01% after the premium-price grocery chain's uninspiring results were followed by a Goldman Sachs downgrade to "sell" from "neutral" and then on Thursday the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected its application to upgrade its new slogan from "America's Healthiest Grocery Store" to the loftier "World's Healthiest Grocery Store".

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $104.34 1.35%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $137.96 1.21%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $117.61 1.01%
Visa Inc. (V) $79.19 0.84%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $142.76 0.76%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.65 0.58%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $84.81 0.41%
American Express Co. (AXP) $64.79 0.31%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $69.26 0.17%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $56.21 0.04%