The stock markets in the United States fluctuated and eventually ended the trading session higher despite disappointing corporate earnings and decline in oil prices today. The WTI Crude dropped 2.5% to $46.08 per barrel while the Brent Crude fell 3.37% to $48.76 per barrel.
Sign up for our free newsletter
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 climbed 0.08% and 0.03%, respectively. The NASDAQ and Russell 2000 increased 0.38% and 0.17%, respectively.
Today, data showed that China’s economy recorded the weakest growth since the financial crisis, which ignited concerns regarding the global economic growth. During the third quarter, the Chines economy grew 6.9%. A majority of the country’s economy is losing momentum except the financial services sector.
China’s factory output climbed 5.7%, lower than the 6% growth expected by economists. The country’s fixed asset investment increased 10.3%, below the 10.8% consensus estimate.
[drizzle]Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., told Bloomberg, “It’s not a surprise the markets haven’t responded much to China’s GDP number because it wasn’t that far from consensus.” Maley added, “People are going to be focusing on earnings, but I think earnings will have more of an impact on individual names than the overall market.”
On the other hand, Otto Waser, chief investment officer at R&A Group Research & Asset Management AG commented, “The earnings season and the expectations for a Fed rate hike are the key near-term factors.”
“Expectations are still low for earnings and global companies are still suffering from a strong dollar. Still, we’re not that far away from the levels at the start of August, and we could get there this quarter,” added Waser.
Meanwhile, Nicholas Snowdon, an analyst at Standard Chartered commented, “Market participants said there was little reason to believe global growth conditions would improve from their current sluggishness in the next six months.”
U.S. Markets
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17, 230.54 (+0.08%)
- S&P 500- 2,033.66 (+0.03%)
- NASDAQ- 4,905.47 (+0.38%)
- Russell 2000- 1,164.25 (+0.17%)
European Markets
- EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,272.04 (+0.22%)
- FTSE 100 Index- 6,352.33 (-0.40%)
- Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 10,164.31 (+0.59%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
- Nikkei 225- 18,131.23 (-0.88%)
- Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 23,075.61 (+0.04%)
- Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,534.18 (+0.00%)
Stocks in Focus
Hasbro declined more than 7% to $72.18 per share. The company reported earnings of $1.64 per share, higher than the $1.52 per share expected by Wall Street analyst. However, its revenue of $1.47 billion was lower that the $1.48 billion consensus estimate.
The stock price of Weight Watchers International closed $13.92 per share, up by 105% today. Oprah Winfrey will join the Board of Directors of Weight Watchers after acquiring a significant stake in the company.
PMC-Sierra surged more than 14% to $11.73 per share. Microsemi offered to acquire PMC-Sierra for $11.50 per share or $2.4 billion in cash and stock. Its proposal was higher than the $10.50 per share offered by Skyworks Solutions.
[/drizzle]
