Wall Street with lead feet: after 16 Italian time, the Dow Jones is flat with a variation equal to -0.09% at 34,901 points; the S&P falls 0.18% to 4,366 points; the Nasdaq loses 0.09% to 14.632 points.
The US quarterly earnings season continues to be positive, but operators are looking elsewhere, in particular at the decline in US Treasury rates, which seem to confirm doubts about the sustainability of economic growth.
The ten-year rates fell to 1.329% from 1.45% at the end of June and compared to a value above 1.70% in March.
Among the notable company stories, Morgan Stanley announced that it ended the quarter of the year ended June 30, 2021 with net revenue of $ 14.8 billion, compared to $ 13.7 billion for the same period last year. , better than the $ 13.98 billion expected by the consensus. Net income was $ 3.5 billion, or $ 1.85 on a diluted basis, compared to $ 3.2 billion, or $ 1.96 per share, in the second quarter of 2020, and above the consensus estimate of $ 1.65. .
James P. Gorman, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, confirmed that the banking giant will double dividends by also launching a $ 12 billion buyback deal.
Morgan Stanley stock rises by 0.41% (prices have risen by 35% since the beginning of the year):
according to analysts, the lack of rally is explained more by the decline in bond yields – which is destroying the hopes of a more favorable context for banks’ profitability, therefore higher rates – than as a reaction to the publication of the financial statements.
Wall Street is not particularly benefiting from the release of the weekly report on initial jobless claims, which fell to 360,000, to a minimum since March 14, 2020, in line with expectations, and compared to the previous week’s 386,000 ( figure revised upwards).
Among the focus titles also on Netflix, up about 1% after the news concerning the hiring, by Big Tech, of a video game expert.
This is Mike Verdu, who has worked for Facebook so far, holding the position of deputy general manager of the virtual reality and augmented reality content division. His hiring is fueling speculation on the markets about Netflix’s possible intention to expand into the video game market.
Other Big Techs like Amazon, Google and Microsoft are also making their way into the industry.
The meme stock of the video game retail company GameStop recovers in the opening session after the thud in the premarket. AMC also rebounds, recovering from the eve’s crash of -15%, which brought losses from the beginning of the month to -41%.
However, it should be noted that AMC collected a gain of more than + 1,400% in 2021, while GameStop marked a rally of over + 780%, thanks to the fever that exploded among amateur traders, who coordinated their bullish bets on the various forums and social networks. network, such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets chat room, launching a real challenge against hedge fund short bets.
Yesterday Wall Street closed positively, thanks to the dovish tones of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who, in a congressional hearing, reiterated that “we continue to foresee that it will be appropriate to maintain the current target range on rates, until the conditions of the the labor market will not have reached levels consistent with the Commission’s assessment of what is the maximum employment, and until inflation has risen to 2% and moderately exceeded 2% for a while of time”.
Powell will speak in Congress also today.