Wall Street in the red, awaiting the publication of the profits of the great American Big Techs, after the end of the trading day.
At around 4 pm Italian time, the Dow Jones fell by 0.17%, the S&P 500 dropped by 0.57%, the Nasdaq confirmed its worst position with a drop of 0.66%.
In commenting on the US quarterly season George Ball, president of Sanders Morris Harris, pointed out that, so far, the results have highlighted a mixed picture.
However, there was a common denominator: the attention of the markets to the cost cutting that the companies of Corporate America are starting.
“A factor – explains Ball – which derives from worries about the conditions of the economy”.
Another element on which investors are focusing – the analyst said again, questioned by CNBC – is the profit margin of companies.
Ball said among other things that he believes that the big names in US Big Tech may not be confirmed among the best stocks on Wall Street, despite the rally at the beginning of the year.
Amazon and Microsoft will open the quarterly dances of the mega caps of the United States.
Wall Street, cautious as it awaits the verdicts, is concentrating meanwhile on other news from the corporate front.
In the spotlight, the slump in the shares of regional bank First Republic:
Shares plunge more than 20% after the bank said deposits plunged 40% to $104.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
Focus also on McDonald’s, after the American fast food giant announced that it closed the first quarter of 2023 with an adjusted EPS of $2.63, higher than the $2.33 per share expected by the consensus.
Turnover is also better than expected.
McDonald’s also announced that traffic in its US restaurants rose for the third consecutive quarter, despite inflation, which forced the giant to raise the prices of its menus.
However, the stock is trending flat.
General Motors takes off by more than 3%, after the accounts, also in this case, higher than expectations and the improvement of the guidance for 2023.
A sour note on the other hand is UPS, whose quarterly report disappointed the outlook.
Bad UPS, with the title slipping by more than 8% after the publication of the quarterly.
UPS reported adjusted EPS of $2.20, slightly lower than consensus expectations of $2.21 per share.
Revenue came in at $22.93 billion, down from the $23.01 billion estimate.
“The deceleration in US retail sales has translated into lower than anticipated volumes – commented CEO Carol Tome – We are also coping with the continued weakening of demand in Asia”.
On Wall Street yesterday caution weighed on the Nasdaq, down 0.29%.
The Dow Jones rose 66.44 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was roughly unchanged, up just +0.09%.
The Nasdaq also discounted the Tesla effect: the shares of the electric car giant led by CEO and founder Elon Musk lost about 3%, slipping to its lowest level since the end of January.
Today pay attention also to the yields of US Treasuries, which confirm the concerns for the US economy:
US 10-year Treasury rates tumbled by around 8 basis points, to 3.422%, while two-year yields recorded a greater plunge, collapsing to 4.022%.