WMT - US Stocks On Track To Finish Week On A High As Positive Earnings Rate Pause Hopes Lend Support | Benzinga
The resilient market looks set to open the week’s last trading session on a modestly positive note. Stocks have been mostly higher this week following the release of a tame consumer price inflation report on Tuesday, although the upward move hasn’t been very convincing. On Friday, stocks will likely get a lift from some positive earnings reports. Traders may also keep an eye on speeches by Federal Reserve officials.
Cues From Thursday's Trading:
Stocks closed Thursday’s session on a narrowly mixed note as they digested a batch of data underlining the economy’s softness and negative earnings from some high-profile companies.
Jobless claims for the recent reporting week rose more than expected, industrial production and homebuilder confidence fell more than expected, and a regional manufacturing survey showed continued contraction in the Philadelphia region. On the corporate front, earnings reports from Walmart, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) triggered markedly negative reactions.
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 indices traded mostly below the unchanged line before moving decisively higher in the final hour of trading. The former closed at a fresh 3-1/2 month high, while the latter at a 2-1/2 month high.
The Dow Industrials languished below the flat line throughout, save for a few moments in early trading. Breaking a four-session winning streak, the 30-stock average ended lower.
In recent sessions, small-caps underperformed and closed in the red, in line with the see-sawing sentiment toward these stocks.
Communication services, IT services, IT, and utility stocks were among the session’s biggest gainers, while energy, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary stocks came under intense selling.
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