Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after ending yesterday’s volatile session little changed.
Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 179.95 points or 0.5 percent at 40,407.54, the Nasdaq is up 11.59 points or 0.7 percent at 17,377.72 and the S&P 500 is up 6.87 points or 0.1 percent at 5,535.62.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street comes as traders remain reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key earnings and economic news in the coming days.
Four of the “Magnificent Seven” companies – Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) – are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.
Big-name companies like Visa (V), Eli Lilly (LLY), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are also due to report their quarterly results.
The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus later this week along with the Federal Reserve’s preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
Among individual stocks, shares of Honeywell (HON) have surged by 5.6 percent after the conglomerate reported first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE) has also jumped by 2.5 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings and maintaining its full-year guidance.
Meanwhile, shares of General Motors (GM) have slumped by 2.0 percent after the auto giant reported first quarter results that beat expectations but withdrew its full-year guidance and suspended additional stock buybacks.
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing its U.S. consumer confidence index slumped by more than expected in the month of April.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index plunged to 86.0 in April from an upwardly revised 93.9 in March.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to tumble to 87.5 from the 92.9 originally reported for the previous month.
Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board, noted the steep drop dragged the consumer confidence index down to levels not seen since the onset of the COVID pandemic.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Gold stocks have shown a notable move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.4 percent amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal.
Housing and semiconductor stocks are also seeing weakness on the day, while pharmaceutical and software stocks have moved to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index crept up by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.3 basis points at 4.193 percent.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Turning In Another Lackluster Performance
2025-04-29 14:55:05
