US open: Weak Q1 GDP weighs on stocks, economists sanguine

Wall Street was set to limp into the weekend following a weak reading on first quarter economic growth, although the Nasdaq Composite was climbing further into record territory on the back of positive results from the biggest of the so-called FANG stocks.

As of 15:59 GMT the Dow Jones Industrials was lower by 0.09% to 20,961.38, as the S&P 500 slipped 0.08% to 2,386.72 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.08% to 6,053.35.

The American economy expanded at an annualised clip of 0.7% over the first three months of 2017, down from the 2.1% clip seen in the preceding three months and the 1.2% advance economists had been expecting.

A slowdown in household spending to just 0.3% was the main driver of the weakness in GDP, even as investment in business structures jumped by 22.1%, their biggest rise since early 2014.

"That weakness, in our view, is likely to prove transitory. Warm weather reduced utilities consumption, motor vehicle purchases declined to a more sustainable rate, and early in the quarter, tax refunds were delayed. These factors combined with the timing of the Easter/Passover holiday (in April this year) and a weak March employment report likely weighed on consumption growth," said economists at Barclays Research.

Consumer confidence in the world's largest economy slipped in April to a reading of 97.0 from 98.0 in the month before (consensus: 98.5), although a subindex tracking their expectations nudged higher.

In corporate news, shares in Google parent Alphabet jumped as its first-quarter results after the close on Thursday beat analysts’ expectations, while Amazon was also in the back as it said profit rose more than 40% in the first quarter to $724m. Amazon.com and Facebook also pleased investors with their latest figures.

On the downside, however, Microsoft and Intel fell as their quarterly revenues missed expectations.

Starbucks was also under the cosh after its quarterly revenues fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Shares in oil major Exxon Mobil were on the up despite a mixed set of first quarter numbers, with EPS for the latest three-month stretch printing at 95 cents (consensus: 84 cents) even as top line growth fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Aside from corporate news, geopolitical tensions were on investors’ minds after President Donald Trump told Reuters that a “major, major conflict” could be on the cards with North Korea.

Market participants were also faced with a potential government shutdown this weekend. Government funding expires on Saturday, but Congress is widely expected to pass a one-week spending bill to keep the government going for now.

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.51 0.98%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.98 0.88%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $119.28 0.42%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $68.47 0.30%
3M Co. (MMM) $196.39 0.14%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $102.76 0.08%
Boeing Co. (BA) $183.36 0.08%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $87.57 -0.05%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.97 -0.09%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $33.72 -0.10%