Wall Street pointed to a modest decline early Tuesday as investors digested more corporate earnings reports, keeping an eye on news that could move markets later this week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each down 0.1% before the bell.
McDonald’s fell less than 1% premarket after the burger chain reported strong sales in the United States, but fell short of Wall Street’s profit target. International sales decreased due to fewer customers across the Middle East and in Muslim-majority markets. boycott mcdonalds Perceptions of support for Israel have been in the air for months.
3M soared 7.6% after sales and profits beat Wall Street expectations. The industrial, safety and consumer products maker also released full-year sales and profit guidance, which reflects the spin-off of its Solventum Healthcare business in early April.
HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, rose 4.2% after announcing: CEO Noel Quinn plans to retire After serving in the position for about five years. Mr. Quinn oversaw the sale of HSBC’s Canadian and Argentina operations, delivering the bank’s highest returns in more than a decade.
Coca-Cola’s stock price was little moved after the beverage giant beat analysts’ sales and profit estimates.
Amazon and Starbucks will report their latest financial results after the bell on Tuesday.
Markets are also anxiously awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision on Wednesday.
report of stubbornly high inflation Traders expect fewer rate cuts this year. The US central bank’s key interest rate is at its highest level since 2001. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is likely to make even more colorful remarks at a press conference following the central bank’s decision.
Investors will also be focused on the jobs report to be released to Wall Street on Friday, which could show that U.S. employers’ hiring cooled in April and that wage growth for workers remained relatively stable. be.
Wall Street’s hope is that the job market will remain strong enough to avoid a recession, but not strong enough to cause upward pressure on inflation.
In midday European markets, France’s CAC40 was down 0.1% in early trade, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.4%. Britain’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.5%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average returned from the holiday to end up 1.2% at 38,405.66. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 7,664.10. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,692.06. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 17,763.03, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 3,104.82.
In Japan, the government reported stronger-than-expected growth in industrial production in March, with a seasonally adjusted 3.8% month-on-month increase.
Min Ju Kang, senior economist at ING, said: “While the slump in manufacturing weighed on growth in the first quarter of this year, we believe consumption is likely to improve on the back of a healthy labor market. ”
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil added 25 cents to $82.88 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard crude, rose 29 cents to $87.49 per barrel.
In currency trading, the dollar rose from 156.28 yen to 156.91 yen. The euro fell slightly from $1.0725 to $1.0721.
