[New York Stock Market] Mixed Close Amid Corporate Earnings Watch... Nasdaq Down 0.18%

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] The U.S. New York stock market closed mixed near the flat line on the 25th (local time), keeping an eye on concerns surrounding corporate earnings.

On the day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,743.84, up 9.88 points (0.03%) from the previous session. The large-cap focused S&P 500 index closed down 0.73 points (0.02%) at 4,016.22, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index ended the day down 20.91 points (0.18%) at 11,313.36.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The blue-chip Dow index fell more than 460 points early in the session but turned positive just before the close. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq narrowed their losses in late-session buying but could not escape a downward trend.

By sector, utilities, technology, communication, industrials, and energy stocks within the S&P 500 declined. Microsoft (MS), which kicked off the big tech earnings season, posted a weak quarterly guidance and closed down 0.59% from the previous session. Boeing’s earnings, announced before the market opened, dampened investor sentiment but its stock rose 0.33%.

AT&T jumped 6.58% on new subscriber growth. Capital One Financial surged nearly 9% despite disappointing earnings. Tesla, which is scheduled to report earnings after the market close, rose 0.38% during trading. Media company News Corp rose 5.68% after media mogul Rupert Murdoch withdrew plans to merge with Fox.

Investors on the day focused on mixed corporate earnings ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve (Fed) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and key economic data releases later this week. Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments, said, "If a company’s future is weak, why should investors be optimistic?" He pointed out that the message from this earnings season is almost the same, explaining that earnings reports across various sectors share a bleak outlook.

According to FactSet, about 19% of companies listed on the S&P 500 have reported quarterly earnings so far, with 68% beating expectations. However, this falls short of the 76% average over the past four quarters. Nick Raich, CEO of The Earnings Scout, noted that this is lagging behind past trends. Tesla and IBM are scheduled to release earnings after the market close today.

In the New York bond market, Treasury yields fell as investors monitored corporate earnings and economic outlooks. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell below the 3.5% level. The 2-year yield, sensitive to monetary policy, also dropped to around 4.13%.

This week, key economic data including U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) will be released. PCE is one of the Fed’s preferred inflation indicators. Expectations remain that the Fed will narrow the rate hike to 0.25 percentage points at the February FOMC meeting next week. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch tool, the federal funds (FF) futures market currently prices in over a 99.8% chance of a 0.25 percentage point rate hike in February.

The U.S. dollar declined slightly. The Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s value against six major currencies, moved down 0.26% to around the 101 level.

Oil prices were almost unchanged from the previous day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $80.15 per barrel, up 2 cents (0.02%) from the previous session.