US close: Stocks finish firmer despite inflation data

dl finance dollar dollars usd currency money finance — Sharecast / Pixabay

Wall Street stocks closed in positive territory on Wednesday, as market participants did their best to shrug off some red hot inflation reports.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.01% at 34,564.59, as the S&P 500 added 1.12% to 4,446.59, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.03% to 13,643.59.

The Dow closed 344.23 points higher on Wednesday, biting into the losses recorded on Tuesday.

“Earnings season has begun in earnest, but it has not been a particularly positive start,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“JPMorgan’s numbers revealed that dealmaking was down and credit losses had increased, as the bright outlooks of 2021 give way to the gloomier performance of 2022.

“There wasn’t much good news in the outlook for the year ahead either; the usual bugbears of inflation, central bank policy and the Ukraine war combined to produce a very cautious forecast for the months to come, something that may well be echoed by other banks tomorrow.

“It was not the start to earnings season that many had hoped for.”

News from yesterday that US inflation had hit a fresh 40-year high in March was again in focus early on Wednesday as, according to the Labor Department, consumer price inflation jumped to 8.5% - its fastest annual rate of growth since 1981 - due to surging energy prices due to Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Analysts had been expecting a figure of 8.4%.

On the month, prices were up 1.2% in March, versus a 0.8% increase in February and marking the biggest jump since 2005.

The gasoline index surged 18.3%, accounting for more than half the total monthly increase.

Food prices rose 1%, while shelter prices were 0.5% higher.

Turning to Wednesday’s producer price index, meanwhile, wholesale prices rose at their fastest clip in over a decade last month as energy prices continued to rise.

According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices jumped at a month-on-month pace of 1.4% in March, pushing the annual rate of increase to 11.2% - the biggest jump since records began in 2010.

Energy prices jumped by 5.7%, led by a 20.4% jump in diesel fuel prices, following a 7.5% rise during the previous month and food prices increased by 2.4%.

Total goods prices, meanwhile, rose by 2.3%.

On the macro front, mortgage applications in the United States decreased 1.30% week-on-week in the seven days ended 8 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, as the average home loan rate in the US topped 5% for the first time since November 2018.

In the corporate space, the first-quarter earnings season kicked off on Wednesday, with investment manager BlackRock slipping 0.15% after it posted a nearly 22% rise in first-quarter profits as investors poured more money into its various funds.

JPMorgan Chase was 3.22% weaker after its quarterly earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates, while shares in retailer Bed Bath & Beyond lost 1.17% after the firm detailed a surprise quarterly loss.

On the upside, Delta Air Lines ascended 6.21% after it reported a quarterly loss, but forecast a return to profit in the current quarter as air travel demand hit record heights.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $182.87 3.74%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $157.28 2.60%
American Express Co. (AXP) $179.59 2.31%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $287.62 1.97%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $127.47 1.96%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $170.40 1.63%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $171.67 1.57%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.16 1.42%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $253.51 1.39%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $310.42 1.35%