The futures markets are well in the red this morning as traders digest a slew of earnings results from companies. A few earnings reports released after the market closed yesterday have been weighing on trader sentiment. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG), the parent company of Google and its related suite of products and services, are down in early market action as traders focused on the company’s growing expenses during the June quarter. Additionally, Tesla (TSLA) stock took a hit in pre-market trading following a second-quarter earnings that underwhelmed the Street. Overall, these factors suggest a weak start to the trading day.
The stock market trended sideways for much of the day yesterday as investors weighed a positive move in the price of the average home sale ($426,900) against a decline in the number of sales (down 5.4%). The indices were in a holding pattern through much of the day before tailing off in the final portion of the trading session. Overall, the S&P 500 declined nine points (down 0.16%), the NASDAQ finished lower by ten points (down 0.06%), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58 points (down 0.14%). Market breadth was neutral, with advancers and decliners about even on the day. Materials stocks were among the best performers on the day. On the other hand, energy issues were among the weakest performers of the day, though most sectors of the stock market finished the day lower.
In commodity news, oil prices fell sharply yesterday as traders priced the potential for an improved regulatory environment for crude oil drilling in the coming quarters. Still, this was partially offset later in the day as prices recovered on a bigger-than-expected drawdown of crude oil inventories.
Elsewhere, U.S. Treasury bond yields largely fell yesterday as traders bought the safe-haven asset. Still, short-term interest rates fell more than those with longer durations.
After an initial rise, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, commonly known as the “Fear Index”, retreated through much of the session and finished the day in the red as traders bought less options protection.
Several economic reports are slated for release in the days ahead. These include the U.S. second-quarter GDP (gross domestic product) and initial jobless claims on Thursday. On Friday, personal spending readings for June, the core and non-core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, and the final consumer sentiment for July are on the docket. Additionally, earnings season will continue with several large companies slated to report quarterly results, including Dow-30 component International Business Machines (IBM) after the closing bell today. - John E. Seibert III
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not hold positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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