Stocks on Wall Street were mixed in quiet premarket trading as more retailers reported strong earnings late in the earnings season.
Stocks were mixed on Wall Street in quiet premarket trading Tuesday as more retailers report strong results as this quarter’s earnings season draws to a close.
Futures prices for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose slightly by less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq was down less than 0.1% before the bell, a day after hitting a record high.
Macy’s easily beat Wall Street’s profit expectations and jumped 3.4% early Tuesday. The New York retailer, which has been under pressure from investors to accelerate growth, also beat its first-quarter sales target and raised its outlook.
Hardware store chain Lowe’s edged up 2.3% after sales and profits beat analysts’ targets.
There are few top-tier economic reports this week, much like last week’s headline showing that inflation may finally be heading back in the right direction after a depressed start to the year. However, there are some potentially market-moving reports on corporate earnings coming up.
At the top of the list is Nvidia, whose rapid growth amid a frenzy over artificial intelligence technology has been a big factor in the S&P 500’s rise over the past year. The company is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, and expectations are high.
Target also reported Ross Stores on Wednesday following Thursday. They could provide more information about how well U.S. household spending is holding up. With inflation still high, albeit not as high as before, pressures on customers are increasing, and rifts appear to be glaring among the lowest-income customers.
There are growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will be able to lower interest rates this year if inflation continues to slow. Lower interest rates generally benefit the stock market.
One sector that’s been especially pressured by high interest rates is the housing market: On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors reported home sales for April that fell in March as homebuyers struggle with rising mortgage rates and prices.
In European markets, France’s CAC40 was down 1% and Germany’s DAX was down 0.5% as of midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4%.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 38,946.93. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 7,851.70. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7% to 2,724.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.1% to 19,220.62, and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% to 3,157.97.
In Asia, investors are keeping an eye on signs regarding the health of China’s economy. S&P Global Market Intelligence raised its growth forecast for this year to 4.8% from 4.7% in April, but stressed that it is not overly optimistic.
“The overall outlook for a gradual economic recovery remains unchanged, with the economy expanding supported by stronger policy stimulus, stronger external demand and gradually improving private sector confidence,” the report said. .
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil fell $1.26 to $78.04 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell by $1.26 to $82.45 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 156.30 yen from 156.27 yen. The euro rose to $1.0865 from $1.0861.
The Nasdaq rose 0.7% on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, finishing just shy of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% in its first trading day after closing above the 40,000 mark for the first time.
