Wednesday’s trading day is over and interest rates have remained unchanged. Here’s what investors will look at tomorrow:
Stocks ended lower on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy update. The Fed didn’t have many surprises up its sleeve, leaving interest rates unchanged and reiterating its patient approach to monetary policy.
Molson Coors (TAP) was the worst performer in the S&P, falling 7.5%. Clorox (CLX) did similarly poorly, slipping 7.2%.
Home Depot (HD) and Nike (NKE) were doing worst in the Dow, dropping 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Apple (AAPL) was the bright spot in the index, climbing 4.9%.
Stocks are near their session lows after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference.
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are all staunchly in the red with less than 30 minutes to go until the close.
Powell stressed the central bank’s independence, somewhat unsurprisingly, in response to questions about President Donald Trump’s call for a 1% rate cut to boost the economy.
Powell also said that the Fed remained committed to its 2% inflation target and that the current lower inflation might be transitory.
In other assets, the dollar turned positive and climbed 0.3% to 97.718 and the 10-year US Treasury yield was little changed at 2.5125%.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its key benchmark rate unchanged despite renewed calls by President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.
Policymakers led by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell unanimously agreed to leave rates alone, sticking with the wait-and-see approach outlined earlier this year amid uncertainty about where the US economy is headed.
Fears of an economic slowdown have subsided in the wake of positive news from China, and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing appear to be easing as negotiators work toward a deal.
Read the whole story about the Federal Reserve’s policy update here.
Stocks added to their gains after the Federal Reserve released its monetary policy update.
The central bank unanimously agreed to leave interest rates unchanged, sticking to its policy of being patient. It commented on the solid US economic growth and strong labor market in its statement, and acknowledged that inflation has declined has is running below the target of 2%.
Now investors will watch the press conference with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Around the halfway mark of the trading day, stocks have given back their previous gains.
The S&P 500, which earlier in the session hit a new intraday record high, was even trading in the red.
Apple (AAPL) continues to be one of the most heavily traded stocks, according to Refinitiv, gaining more than 6% after yesterday’s earnings.
In the S&P, cruise operator Royal Caribbean (RCL) and defense contractor Harris Corp (HRS) are doing the best, both climbing more than 7%.
Hulu revealed that it now has 28 million subscribers, 3 million more than it had at the end of 2018.
But the streaming service still lags far behind Netflix (NFLX), which has 60 million subscribers in the United States and 150 million globally. Hulu is only available in the United States.
Disney (DIS) became the majority stakeholder in Hulu after it closed a deal to buy most of Fox’s assets earlier this year. NBCUniversal is the only other owner with roughly 30%.
AT&T (T), which owns CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia, announced last month that it is selling its minority stake in Hulu back to the streaming video service.
With a little over two hours until the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and interest rate update, the US dollar doesn’t look so hot.
The ICE US dollar Index, which measures the buck against six rival currencies, was last down 0.2% at 97.281.
While the Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady today, the market is beginning to price in a 25 basis point rate cut later this year, as evidence by CME Fed funds futures. If the central bank were to lower rates again, it would likely weigh on the dollar, which enjoyed a tailwind last year from four interest rate increases.
So far, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has preached patience this year, and has not given any firm indication that the next move of interest rates would necessarily be lower.
Yesterday, President Donald Trump called for a 1%, or 100 basis point, rate cut to boost the US economy.
About an hour into trading, stocks are holding in the green, despite some not-so-great economic data.
The S&P 500 has already set a new intraday record high. It’s that kind of day.
The ISM manufacturing index for April came in below expectations at 52.2, and construction spending for March fell 0.9%, more than forecast.
The strongest gainers in the S&P are Hilton (HLT) and defense contractor Harris Corp (HRS), both up more than 6%.
Apple (AAPL) is the strongest Dow component, having climbed 6% after last night’s earnings.
Hilton (HLT) is proving that the hotel industry isn’t dead yet.
The company’s first quarter earnings jumped 16% compared to the same period a year ago and it raked in revenue of $2.2 billion. Hilton also said that revenue for each available room, a key metric for profitability, will climb this year.
Unlike its rival Marriott (MAR), Hilton isn’t building an Airbnb rival. Rather, it’s continuing to plow ahead creating new hotel brands and building thousands of more rooms. Hilton said it now operates in 37 new countries where it hadn’t previously.
Shares are rallying 7% as a result.
US stocks started Wednesday’s trading day stronger.
The S&P closed at a record high on Tuesday, but today’s strength could boost it yet again to an all-time high. It would be its fifth record in just over a week.
Investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy update at 2 p.m. ET and its subsequent press conference. The ADP employment report before the bell beat consensus estimates, which bodes well for Friday’s jobs report.
Apple (AAPL) shares are up 4.7%, after the company reported earnings after the bell yesterday.
CVS Health (CVS) stock also climbed 3.6%, following better-than-expected earnings earlier.
It’s the time to beat estimates.
US private payrolls jumped to 275,000 in April, significantly higher than Refinitiv’s consensus forecast of 180,000. For analysts, the ADP employment report is a bellwether for Friday’s jobs report, this week’s key data point.
Stock futures are solidly in the green following the report, pointing at a higher open for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. The S&P closed at an all-time record high once again yesterday, marking its fourth record within just over a week.
Apple (AAPL) is one of the biggest premarket movers, with its stocks up more than 5% ahead of the market open.
Similarly, CVS Health Care (CVS) is also looking at a bounce, rising 5.7% premarket.
There are twelve zeroes in a trillion. And now there are two companies that are worth about that much. That’s never happened before.
Microsoft (MSFT) closed on Tuesday with a market value just north of $1 trillion. Apple, which briefly topped the trillion dollar mark last year, is poised to pass that level again Wednesday following its better than expected earnings. Apple (AAPL) needs to climb about 5.7% today to pass $1 trillion and it was up around 5.3% in premarket action.
2019 has been a banner year for tech stocks. And as a result, the five largest companies in America – Microsoft, Apple, Amazon (AMZN), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) are now collectively worth about $4.3 trillion. That’s higher than the annual GDP of Germany.
Investors are counting down the hours until Fed chief Jerome Powell updates his “patient” guidance on rates. Especially after the fed-critic-in-chief Donald Trump called for a 1% rate cut.
Puzzling, to say the least, especially considering 3.8% unemployment, 3.2% first quarter GDP growth and a stock market on fire.
Speaking of stocks: Wow. April closed another great month for stock investors. After the worst December since the Great Depression, there has been four straight months of gains. The White House loves these numbers, obviously. (Though I would remind everyone only about half of American households own stocks.)
For Democrats, read it and weep. Expect President Trump to keep using the stock market as his personal scorecard. But Democrats have a legitimate opening on health care costs, child care and college. They can also try to make the point that just because the investor class is getting rich and workers are lagging.
Here are the numbers:
Dow
S&P 500
Nasdaq
The software chip sector is suddenly interesting again.
AMD (AMD) is rallying 6% after its earnings beat analysts’ expectations and reaffirmed its year-ahead guidance. The stock is up 50% for the year.
Intel (INTC) shares continue to struggle after it projected a slide in revenue during its earnings last week. The company is adjusting after ending production of 5G modems for smartphones.
That announcement comes on the heels of Apple and chipmaker Qualcomm agreeing to dismiss all litigation between the two companies.
Qualcomm (QCOM) will release earnings after the US market close and investors will be eyeing a potential windfall from its Apple settlement.
Facebook (FB) debuted a makeover for its main app Tuesday that reflects the company’s new emphasis on privacy.
It’s unclear if a new design and approach to privacy will usher in real change for the beleaguered company, or if it’s just a new coat of paint.
Zuckerberg outlined principles he said the company is now focusing on, including private interactions, encryption, disappearing content and secure data storage.
Investors are eager to understand how the changes will affect the company’s advertising business. The stock didn’t react to the slew of announcements.
The Federal Reserve will announce its latest interest rate decision and policy update at 2:00 pm ET.
The US central bank is not expected to change rates, but investors will be paying close attention to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s views on the economy.
After raising rates four times last year, the Fed took its foot off the gas in January. But rate cuts have been made unlikely by a very strong performance by the US economy in the first quarter. Global growth also appears to be recovering.
Apple (AAPL) said Tuesday that its revenue for the first three months of 2019 declined 5% to $58 billion. The big problem? Smartphone sales for the period fell 17%.
Apple warned investors in January that iPhone sales had taken a hit from an economic slowdown in China.
CEO Tim Cook suggested Tuesday that the worst may be over, saying Chinese shoppers had responded to price cuts.
But modest price reductions may not be enough to compete with Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi and Huawei.
Huawei shipped 30 million phones in China in the first three months of the year, more than any other company and a 41% increase over the same period in 2018, according to research firm Canalys.
Apple sales in China in the first quarter plunged by 30% to 6.5 million phones — its worst decline in two years, according to Canalys.
Here’s what investors are watching today:
