Wall Street falters after mixed earnings and trade glitch

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Wall Street was mixed on Tuesday as a string of mixed earnings put some wind on the sails of the recent rally.

The session got off to a rocky start as a series of NYSE-listed stocks were halted at the opening bell due to an apparent technical glitch, which caused initial price confusion and sparked an investigation. of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

More than 80 stocks were affected by the issue, which caused wide swings in the opening prices of stocks, including Walmart Inc (WMT.N) and Nike Inc (NKE.N).

“It looks like NYSE got into it early on,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Now they are trying to figure out what the opening prices were.”

“Everyone involved in trade deals is going to have a long day today.”

All three index fingers sputtered near the start line, with little apparent momentum either way.

The fourth quarter earnings season is in full swing, with 72 of the S&P 500 companies reporting. Of these, 65% beat the consensus, just a hair below the long-term average of 66%, according to Refinitiv.

Overall, analysts now expect S&P 500 earnings to be 2.9% lower than the year-ago quarter, down from the 1.6% year-on-year decline seen. on January 1, according to Refinitiv.

“Earnings aren’t yet a bull or bear argument for the market, but investors are worried about going long when the Fed is done raising rates,” Sroka added. “We are reaching a ramp in the earnings cycle, and by next week we will have a lot more information on the direction of the market.”

Economic data showed a smaller-than-expected contraction in manufacturing and services in the first weeks of the year, suggesting that the Federal Reserve’s restrictive interest rates are dampening demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 60.69 points, or 0.18%, to 33,690.25, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 5.36 points, or 0.13%, to 4,014.45 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 28.39 points, or 0.25%, to 11,336.03.

Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, industrials fell the most.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, fell 2.5% as SEC investigators searched for the cause of Tuesday’s opening bell confusion.

Shares of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) fell 1.8% after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Google for abusing its dominance in the digital advertising industry.

Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) earnings forecast beat analysts’ expectations. Even so, its stock fell 0.3%.

Industrial conglomerates 3M Co (MMM.N) and General Electric Co (GE.N) both provided disappointing forecasts due to inflationary headwinds.

Shares of 3M were down 5.1% while those of General Electric were slightly lower.

Aerospace/defense companies Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) were a mixed study, with the former posting disappointing earnings forecasts and the latter beating estimates on solid travel demand.

Lockheed Martin and Raytheon rose 1.5% and 2.5% respectively.

Rail operator Union Pacific Corp missed its profit estimates as labor shortages and inclement weather delayed shipments. Its shares lost 2.7%.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is due to report after the bell.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.16 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.06 to 1 favored the decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 21 new lows.

Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis

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