Stock Market News Today – Stocks Turn Negative; Manufacturing PMI Beats Estimates

Last updated: 11:10AM EST

Stocks are in the red so far in today’s trading session. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) are all down by approximately 0.1%.

Earlier today, Markit released its preliminary monthly report for the U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures the activity levels of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector. A number over 50 represents an expansion, whereas anything below 50 means a contraction.

The report came in at 50.4, which was higher than the expected 49. It’s worth noting that this indicator is higher than last month’s reading of 49.2 and has been trending up over the past four months.

Last updated: 9:40AM EST

The stock markets opened mixed on Friday as investors digested another round of earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 (SPX) were up by 0.05% and 0.04%, respectively while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) was down by 0.16%.

First published: 5:15AM EST

U.S. futures are trending down on Friday morning, following a mixed bag of earnings releases. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down 0.08%, 0.07%, and 0.02%, respectively, at 4:30 a.m. EST, April 21.

Telecom giant AT&T (NYSE:T) tanked on a revenue miss despite surpassing Q1 expectations. At the same time, shares of semiconductor player Taiwan Semi (NYSE:TSM) rose on the Q1 earnings beat despite missing revenue estimates.

The earnings season is rife with results from regional banks that were in the spotlight during the current banking crisis. Traders are closely watching the banks’ unrealized gains/losses and the health of their balance sheets.

There are relatively fewer earnings releases today, being a Friday. Consumer packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) reports before the bell, and so do oilfield services company Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), and leading mining company Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX).

The initial jobless claims figure for the week ending April 15 came in higher than expected at 245,000, showing signs that the Fed’s continuous interest rate hikes are having an impact on the economy steadily. The Federal Reserve enters the blackout period next week, up until they hold their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on May 2-3. Markets are expecting a 25 basis point rate hike in May, followed by a long pause.

Elsewhere, European indices are trading mixed today, following a slew of corporate earnings releases and economic data points reported across nations. The Bank of England is also expected to announce another rate hike in its next policy decision in May to curb the U.K.’s inflation, which came in at 10.1% last week.

Asia-Pacific Markets End in the Red

Asia-Pacific indices finished the trading session in negative territory today as markets assessed the mixed earnings results from companies worldwide. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, China’s Shanghai Composite, and Shenzhen Component indices ended the trading session down 1.57%, 1.95%, and 2.78%, respectively.  

At the same time, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices ended the day in the red, down by 0.33% and 0.23%, respectively. Notably, Japan’s core inflation figures for March remained unchanged from February’s figure of 3.1% but came in lower than January’s peak of 4.2%.

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