On Friday, US stocks ticked up as investors continued to digest minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s September meeting.
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The Dow added 47.37 points, or 0.3%, to 17131.86 and its seventh day of gains.
Stocks were poised for a weak start Tuesday as worries over China’s economic growth returned. While the Dow is up 5.15 points or less than a tenth of a % at 17,089.64, the Nasdaq is down 5.95 points or 0.1% at 4,824.52 and the S&P 500 is down 2.19 points or 0.1% at 2,012.70.
Netflix slid 0.81% even though analysts at Nomura lifted their target price on the stock from $120 to $125, while Twitter after announcing plans to cut 8% of its global workforce in a bid to improve efficiency.
“A lot of market participants are cautious [about] taking significant positions ahead of the earnings season”, said Robbert van Batenburg, head of market strategy at Socié té Gé né rale. Along with the banks, several Dow 30 components are scheduled to report results this week, including Johnson & Johnson, Intel and General Electric.
Wall Street is bracing for what could be the first negative quarter for corporate profits since the financial crisis back in 2009.
Last week, the S&P 500 surged 3.3 percent, logging its best weekly increase for 2015.
LONDON – German stocks have shot higher on surging shares in energy companies boosted by indications that they have sufficient funds to close down their nuclear power plants.
“Earnings may be a roadblock”, warns Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock.
Q3 earnings are just around the corner with major companies reporting their quarterly earning these earnings might be a signal of how the last quarter of this volatile year will be, with good earning reports this quarter can act as a catalyst for equities to make up the severe losses that occurred through this year, and who knows maybe the major indices can end in the positive territory for the year.
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In company news, Eli Lilly’s (LLY.N) shares fell 7.8%, its biggest single-day percentage decline in seven years, after the drugmaker said it was scrapping an experimental heart drug. The Shanghai Composite gained 3.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.2%.
