Shortened week capped by modest gains
The major U.S. stock indexes capped a holiday-shortened week with slight gains Thursday, reversing some of the modest losses from a day earlier.
The marginal upward move was not enough to keep the benchmark S&P 500 index from snapping a string of three straight weekly gains.
Industrial sector stocks paved the way higher as traders welcomed solid earnings from Snapon, Honeywell International, United Rentals and Union Pacific. Technology companies also notched solid gains, offsetting losses by financial and energy stocks.
Traders gave a strong reception to Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications, two technology companies that made their widely anticipated stock market debuts.
Cigarette makers dropped on news the U.S. Senate’s majority leader plans to introduce legislation to raise the minimum age to buy all tobacco products from 18 to 21.
Investors remain focused on company earnings as they look for clues about the health of the U.S. economy and the prospects for better corporate profits, a key driver of stock market gains. Analysts expect the wave of first-quarter results for S&P 500 companies being reported over the next few weeks will be the weakest in nearly three years.
“The big takeaway over the past week is the U.S. is doing OK and (company) outlooks are initially reasonable,” said Ben Phillips, chief investment officer at EventShares.
The market has been charting an uneven course all week as traders wade through company earnings reports.
Even so, stocks are holding on to blockbuster gains after rebounding from a steep sell-off late last year. The S&P 500 remains within 1 percent of its most recent all-time high Sept. 20.
The Federal Reserve helped spur the market’s rebound early this year when it said that it might not raise interest rates in 2019.
Still, investors are looking at company earnings as they divine which direction the stocks will churn next.
“We haven’t really gotten to the meat of earnings season and (investors) want to see some really positive guidance and they want to make sure earnings are growing,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior markets strategist at Voya Investment Management. “We have a high bar to jump over from last year, because in the first quarter we had that one-time tax bump.”
Shares in cigarette makers fell after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans to introduce legislation to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 nationally.
The Senate leader said his bill will cover all tobacco products, including vaping devices, and will continue to hold retailers responsible for verifying the age of anyone buying tobacco products.
U.S. stock markets are closing Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday.