Consumer staples sector leads the laggards
U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, 19 April 2018 with major indexes declining broadly as the latest round of earnings failed to extend a recent rally. However, stocks closed off their lows of the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 24,665.89. The S&P 500 lost 0.6% to 2,69.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.8% to 7,238.06. The day's losses were widespread, with nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors ending lower on the day.
Stocks dropped for the first time this week on Thursday, giving back around a third of their weekly gains, as investors tried to sort through the latest pile of corporate earnings. Nine of the eleven S&P 500 sectors finished Thursday in negative territory, with consumer staples taking the biggest hit.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris paced the consumer staples retreat, plunging 15.6% to its lowest level since late 2015, after reporting a decline in cigarette shipment volume for the first quarter and slower-than-expected growth for its IQOS product - which heats tobacco instead of burning it. Procter & Gamble also weighed on the sector, losing 3.3%, despite reporting above-consensus Q1 profits.
At the opposite end of the sector standings, the influential financial sector had a strong outing, helped by a steepening of the yield curve and upbeat Q1 results from American Express; AmEx beat both earnings and revenue estimates in addition to raising its guidance for FY18.
The dollar strengthened on Thursday, flipping its week-to-date performance into slightly positive territory, and helping to dull demand for dollar-denominated precious metals. On Thursday, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.3% at 89.85, trading nearly 0.1% higher week to date.
Among Fed officials who spoke at recent events, Federal Reserve Gov. Randal Quarles on Wednesday said the recent flattening yield curve is not a signal that the nine-year-long U.S. economic expansion is approaching its end. Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said Thursday that there are some signs of financial imbalances in the economy.
The yield curve steepened sharply on Thursday, with the 10-year Treasury yield trading near its 2018 high earlier in the day. Yields rise as Treasury prices fall.
In economic data, first-time U.S. weekly jobless claims fell slightly to 232,000. The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index edged up 1 point to 23.2 in April and the leading economic index rose 0.3% in Marchthe smallest increase since last September.
Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Thursday, 19 April 2018. Gold futures ended lower on Thursday, retreating from the one-week high notched a day earlier as the U.S. dollar found its footing.
June gold fell $4.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,348.80 an ounce. May silver SIK8, -0.28% gave up less than a penny to $17.239 an ounce Thursday after jumping by 2.8% in the previous session.
U.S. oil-price benchmark settled with a loss on Thursday, 19 April 2018 at Nymex suffering from a late-session turn lower and pulling back from a three-and-a-half-year high, as major oil producers meeting in Saudi Arabia reportedly said that the market's global glut of crude supplies has nearly vanished. Reports suggested that a Joint Technical Committee meeting held Thursday found that the glut of global oil supplies has been virtually eliminated.
May West Texas Intermediate crude fell 18 cents, or about 0.3%, to settle at $68.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which expires at Friday's settlement, closed up 2.9% to $68.47 a barrel on Wednesday.
Investors will not receive any economic data on Friday.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
