“When you see this, the market looks for a reason to consolidate”.
Advertisement
What are stock indexes doing?
Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday after hitting an intraday record high, with a dip in oil prices weighing on investor enthusiasm.
In 2017, the Dow rose nearly 5,000 points, and it is up by 4.3 percent since 2018’s trading began on January 2. The Nasdaq Composite declined 37.38 points, or 0.5%, to 7,223.69.
The S&P 500 is up 102.81 points, or 3.9 percent. The Nasdaq is also set for its third positive week in a row, as well as its fifth positive week of the past six.
Although the S&P 500 lagged the other indexes midday Tuesday, technical action on the large-cap index improved.
“You’ve got a bullish start to the earnings season and earnings are expected to be strong for 2018”, said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments. However, the fact that the market closed lower could indicate that it is ready to turn down.
Republican leaders in the US Congress intensified efforts to pass a temporary extension in funding government operations and avert a shutdown, scheduling a vote on the measure for later Thursday.
Which stocks are in focus? Since then, Wall Street analysts have been boosting their 2018 earnings forecasts for US companies at the quickest pace in a decade, providing a fresh tailwind for a market that some skeptics say is pricey.
Citigroup shares rose 0.6% to $77.34 after earnings topped expectations – the latest major U.S. bank to post results for the fourth quarter.
American Express Co.(AXP) fell 2.6%. (GS) on Wednesday reported a loss for the fourth quarter, reflecting lower trading revenue in fixed income, currencies and commodities as well as a charge related to the recent USA tax reform.
Shares of Acorda Therapeutics Inc. Shares of the company finished the day trading down seven percent.
Shares of Square Inc.
Volume rose sharply on both major exchanges in the stock market today.
Mortgage applications continue to rise in the USA, increasing 4.1 per cent as of last week after jumping 8.3 per cent in the previous period.
U and real estate.SPLRCR dipped 0.6 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Bank of America Corp.
What are other markets doing?
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell more than a dollar in NY to settle at US$63.73 per barrel.
Advertisement
Oil prices also slumped (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-sink-1-head-for-biggest-weekly-loss-since-oct-2018-01-19), staying lower after the International Energy Agency said shale producers would help drive USA production to levels not seen since the 1970s. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.06, for a total value of $60,000.00. Sceptics have dubbed the latest phase of the bull market a “melt-up”, with United States shares continuing to rise despite looking overpriced by traditional yardsticks, and warn it could be a last hurrah before a downward correction or crash.
