Market Roundup
Wall Street capped another day of listless trading Wednesday with a slight gain, extending the market’s winning streak to a third day.
Financial, materials and industrial companies accounted for much of the gain, outweighing losses in healthcare and real estate stocks as investors reviewed the latest batch of company earnings reports.
Stock indexes spent much of the day wavering between small gains and losses as traders waited for signs of progress in the latest round of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
“Investors are a bit concerned that we might indeed be slipping into an earnings recession,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “They‘re really sitting on pins and needles as it relates to the trade talks.”
The Wednesday afternoon release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting of policymakers last month didn’t hold any big surprises for investors.
The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which has risen for the last three weeks, gained 4.94 points, or 0.2%, to 2,784.70. The Dow Jones industrial average added 63.12 points, or 0.2%, to 25,954.44.
The Nasdaq composite rose 2.30 points, or less than 0.1%, to 7,489.07. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 7.19 points, or 0.5%, to 1,581.66.
Major European indexes finished higher.
Roughly 84% of S&P 500 companies have reported results for the last three months of 2018, delivering earnings growth of about 13% versus a year earlier, according to FactSet. Firstquarter snapshots are expected to result in a 2.7% decline in earnings, however.
The Trump administration was set Thursday to resume high-level talks with Chinese officials after two days of preliminary talks by lower-level officials.
Investors continued to assess corporate report cards Wednesday.
Garmin jumped 17% after reporting better sales and profit margins in the fourth quarter. Its latest forecast came in ahead of financial analysts’ projections.
La-Z-Boy surged 11.8% after the furniture company’s latest quarterly earnings and revenue exceeded analysts’ forecasts.
Cadence Design Systems climbed 4.6% after the software and engineering services company’s latest quarterly results topped Wall Street’s forecasts.
CVS Health slumped 8.1% after the pharmacy operator issued a 2019 outlook that fell short of analysts’ estimates. CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement that 2019 would be “a year of transition” as the company integrates the health insurer Aetna, which it purchased in a roughly $69-billion deal last year. A federal judge is still evaluating the acquisition.
U.S. benchmark crude rose 1.5% to $56.92 a barrel. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, gained 0.9% to close at $67.08 a barrel.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.65% from 2.64% late Tuesday.
The dollar rose to 110.84 yen from 110.66 yen Tuesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1350 from $1.1340.
Gold added 0.2% to $1,347.90 an ounce. Silver gained 1.3% to $16.18 an ounce. Copper jumped 1.6% to $2.92 a pound.
Wholesale gasoline climbed 2.2% to $1.60 a gallon. Heating oil added 1.2% to $2.02 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 1% to $2.64 per 1,000 cubic feet.