Tag Archives: Wall Street

Tech leads Wall Street higher; jobs data falls short

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S.,June 2, 2017.REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed at record levels for a second consecutive session on Friday, as gains in technology and industrial stocks more than offset a lukewarm jobs report.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 138,000 in May, well short of the 185,000 expected by economists. The prior two months were revised lower by 66,000 jobs than previously reported.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent in May, following a similar gain in April, but the unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low of 4.3 percent.

Despite the disappointing data, market participants still largely anticipate the Federal Reserve to raise rates at its June 13-14 meeting, with traders expecting a 90.7-percent chance of a quarter-point hike, according to Thomson Reuters data.

“It’s certainly surprising. It doesn’t really correlate well with virtually all the other data on the labor market that we’re seeing,” said Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Services Inc in Troy, Michigan.

The modest increase, however, could raise concerns about the economy’s health after gross domestic product growth slowed in the first quarter and a string of softening data this week, including reports on housing and auto sales.

The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. Job gains are slowing as the labor market nears full employment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 62.11 points, or 0.29 percent, to 21,206.29, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 9.01 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,439.07 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 58.97 points, or 0.94 percent, to 6,305.80.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.95 percent, the Dow added 0.59 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.54 percent.

Industrials <.SPLRCI>, up 0.49 percent, and technology <.SPLRCT>, up 1.04 percent, were the best performing sectors. The tech sector has been the top performer among the major S&P sectors, with a 2017 gain of 21.26 percent.

The tech sector was led by Broadcom <AVGO.O>, which rose more than 8 percent to hit an all-time high of $253.76, after the chipmaker’s quarterly results beat analysts’ expectations.

Shares of financials <.SPSY>, which benefit from higher interest rates, fell as much as 0.9 percent after the jobs data sparked some worry the Fed could become cautious after the June meeting, and closed down 0.37 percent.

Energy <.SPNY> was the worst-performing sector, down 1.18 percent. Brent oil tumbled below $50 a barrel on worries that President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon a climate pact could spark more crude drilling in the United States and worsen a global glut.

Lululemon Athletica <LULU.O> jumped 11.5 percent to $54.29 after the athletic apparel maker’s quarterly profit beat estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.34-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.07-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 70 new lows.

About 6.37 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.65 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

(Additional reporting by Herb Lash; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

U.S. stocks open higher after strong private jobs data

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan

By Sweta Singh

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were higher on Thursday after better-than-expected private sector hiring showed that the labor market continues to strengthen, further boosting chances of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve later this month.

The ADP private sector employment report showed that 253,000 jobs were added in May, well above the 185,000 jobs estimated by economists polled by Reuters.

The report by payrolls processor ADP acts as a precursor to the much-awaited nonfarm payrolls data, due on Friday, that includes hiring in both the public and private sectors.

“I think the Fed has already made up its mind. Unless we have a real weak employment data tomorrow I think it’s a go-ahead for the Fed to raise rates in June,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Wednesday he sees a total of three interest rate increases for this year as his baseline scenario, but views four hikes as also being appropriate if the U.S. economy gets an unexpected boost.

Forecasts from Fed officials suggest that a median of two more hikes are planned before the end of the year.

Traders priced in an 89 percent chance of a rate hike in the upcoming Fed meeting on June 14, according to Thomson Reuters data.

At 9:52 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21.5 points, or 0.1 percent, at 21,030.15, the S&P 500 was up 6.16 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,417.96 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 26.51 points, or 0.43 percent, at 6,225.03.    Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the health and technology sectors leading the gainers.

The Institute for Supply Management is likely to report that its national manufacturing index slipped to 54.5 in May from 54.8 in April. The data is expected at 10:00 ET.

“We have a multitude of macro news coming out today and that will set the tone for the market’s direction … I think we are looking at another trying session,” Cardillo said.

Deere’s shares were up 1.9 percent at $124.74 after the farm and construction major said it would buy privately held German road construction company Wirtgen Group for $5.2 billion, including debt.

Goodyear Tire’s shares were up 5.7 percent at $34.03 after Morgan Stanley raised its rating to “overweight” from “underweight”.

Box Inc was up 3.9 percent at $19.40 after the cloud storage firm’s quarterly earnings edged ahead of Wall Street analysts’ expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,931 to 657. On the Nasdaq, 1,707 issues rose and 624 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 28 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 82 new highs and 70 new lows.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D’Silva)

U.S. economy grows at tepid 1.2 percent; business spending softens

FILE PHOTO - A family shops at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S. on June 4, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy slowed less than initially thought in the first quarter, but there are signs it could struggle to rebound sharply in the second quarter amid slowing business investment and moderate consumer spending.

Gross domestic product increased at a 1.2 percent annual rate instead of the 0.7 percent pace reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its second GDP estimate for the first three months of the year.

“The second estimate paints a better picture about the degree of slowing in activity at the start of the year, but the main concern about soft growth in private consumption remains,” said Michael Gapen, chief economist at Barclays in New York.

That was the worst performance since the first quarter of 2016 and followed a 2.1 percent rate of expansion in the fourth quarter. The government revised up its initial estimate of consumer spending growth, but said inventory investment was far smaller than previously reported.

The first-quarter weakness is a blow to President Donald Trump’s ambitious goal to sharply boost economic growth rates. During the 2016 presidential campaign Trump had vowed to lift annual GDP growth to 4 percent, though administration officials now see 3 percent as more realistic.

Trump has proposed a range of measures to spur faster economic growth, including corporate and individual tax cuts. But analysts are skeptical that fiscal stimulus, if it materializes, will fire up the economy given weak productivity and labor shortages in some areas.

The economy’s sluggishness, however, is probably not a true reflection of its health. GDP for the first three months of the year tends to underperform because of difficulties with the calculation of data.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected GDP growth would be revised up to a 0.9 percent rate.

Prices of U.S. Treasuries trimmed gains and U.S. stock indexes slightly pared losses after the data. The dollar gained modestly against a basket of currencies.

While GDP growth appears to have regained speed early in the second quarter, hopes of a sharp rebound have been tempered by weak business spending, a modest increase in retail sales last month, a widening of the goods trade deficit and decreases in inventory investment.

EQUIPMENT SPENDING SLOWING

In a second report on Friday, the Commerce Department said non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, were unchanged in April for a second straight month.

Shipments of these so-called core capital goods dipped 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent in March. Core capital goods shipments are used to calculate equipment spending in the government’s gross domestic product measurement.

The GDP report also showed an acceleration in business spending equipment was not as fast as previously estimated. Spending on equipment rose at a 7.2 percent rate in the first quarter rather than the 9.1 percent reported last month.

Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose at a 0.6 percent rate instead of the previously reported 0.3 percent pace. That was still the slowest pace since the fourth quarter of 2009 and followed the fourth quarter’s robust 3.5 percent growth rate.

Businesses accumulated inventories at a rate of $4.3 billion in the last quarter, rather than the $10.3 billion reported last month. Inventory investment increased at a $49.6 billion rate in the October-December period.

Inventories subtracted 1.07 percentage point from GDP growth instead of the 0.93 percentage point estimated last month.

The government also reported that corporate profits after tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments fell at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter, hurt by legal settlements, after rising at a 2.3 percent pace in the previous three months.

Penalties imposed by the government on the U.S. subsidiaries of Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank related to the sale of mortgage-backed securities reduced financial corporate profits by $5.6 billion in the first quarter.

In addition, a fine levied on the U.S. subsidiary of Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> related to violations of U.S. environmental regulations cut $4.3 billion from nonfinancial corporate profits.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)

Wall Street rises on investor relief after Trump budget

A trader works inside a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Sinead Carew

(Reuters) – Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday after the release of President Donald Trump’s budget plan but gains were tempered by declines in consumer discretionary stocks amid weakness in auto-parts companies.

While Tuesday’s economic data was weak, investors were relieved Trump’s first full budget plan was largely as expected, even if it is not expected to be approved in Congress.

“There were no large surprises. The market is pleased with that,” said Wade Balliet, Chief Investment Strategist at Bank of the West.

Trump’s budget called for a hike in infrastructure and military spending, along with a raft of politically sensitive cuts, in areas such as healthcare and food assistance programs, with the aim of chopping government spending by $3.6 trillion and balancing the budget over the next decade.

The S&P 500 ended below its session high. It topped 2,400 points a few times during the session for the first time since the markets’ plunge last Wednesday on concerns about the future of Trump’s presidency.

While the President is on an overseas trip, stocks were helped by a lack of major news updates related to the government probe on possible ties between his election campaign and Russia.

“With the President being away, with the news cycle slowing a little bit, investors have nibbled their way back in,” said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

“This market has had tremendous strength on the idea that the new administration is going to be able to push through a pro-business platform. To the extent it loses political credibility the market has had trouble holding these gains.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 43.08 points, or 0.21 percent, to 20,937.91, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.4 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,398.42 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 5.09 points, or 0.08 percent, to 6,138.71.

In the morning, U.S. economic data showed new single-family home sales in April tumbled from near a nine-and-a-half-year high, while manufacturing activity for May fell to the lowest level since September.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors ended higher. Financials <.SPSY> rose 0.8 percent, helped by a 1.2 percent gain in the bank subsector <.SPXBK>.

Consumer discretionary <.SPLRCD> was the biggest laggard with a 0.4 percent drop.

The biggest drag on the consumer sector was Autozone Inc <AZO.N>, down 11.8 percent to $581.4. The auto part retailer’s quarterly results missed expectations. Advance Auto Parts <AAP.N> fell 4.6 percent while O’Reilly Automotive <ORLY.O> fell 3.3 percent and Genuine Parts <GPC.N> shares fell almost 2 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 49 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 59 new lows.

About 5.95 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 6.9 billion average for the last 20 sessions.

(Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal, Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Nick Zieminski)

Shock and shrug: U.S. stocks brush off latest round of global threats

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Another global shock. Another collective yawn by U.S. stock investors.

Equity investors appeared to largely brush off the latest apparent threat to the world’s security: A global cyber attack, which began spreading on Friday that by Monday had infected computers in more than 100 countries. Adding to global jitters, North Korea said it had successfully conducted a mid- to-long-range missile test and would continue such launches “any time, any place.”

Yet major U.S. stock indexes moved higher on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> touching a record high, as stocks continued to rally even as many investors worry about unbridled optimism and expensive valuations.

“I am really on pins and needles to be honest with you because there are so many threats to this stability and this complacency which have not yet been priced into the market,” Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group in New York.

“It is just a question of what straw is going to break the camel’s back and then there is going to be all sorts of reasons that the market should have sold off,” Kenny said.

While past cyber attacks may have had limited impact on the market, the WannaCry attack was described as having “unprecedented” global reach at a time people increasingly rely on technology to store their sensitive data. The attack follows hacking incidents during the U.S. and French elections.

“The cyber attack I would have imagined would have created some nervousness and anxiety, and throw in North Korea over the weekend, I’m confused on why the market is doing what it’s doing,” Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York.

U.S. equities continued to move upward on Monday, a trend that has been firmly in place since the U.S. presidential election in November. Helped by higher oil prices, the benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> rose 0.5 percent on Monday and set a new all-time high. In Europe, where the attack took center stage, investors also showed limited concerns. European shares closed higher while the UK’s FTSE 100 <.FTSE> edged up to end at a record high.

Indeed, the main impact from the attack appeared to be a rush to own shares of cyber security firms, the Purefunds ISE Cyber Security ETF <HACK.P> up 3.2 percent, U.S.-listed FireEye Inc <FEYE.O> up 7.5 percent and Symantec Corp <SYMC.O> gaining 3.2 percent.

To be sure, market watchers said that cyber threats have typically had limited impact on the market. Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at Convergex, a global brokerage company based in New York, said for the market to become concerned, an attack would need to be more narrowly targeted, such as hitting a company that consumers depend on such as Apple Inc <AAPL.O> or major banks.

“If you want to get U.S. investors’ attention you’d have to shut down major banks’ ATM systems,” said Colas.

The market’s ability to push higher underscored worries about investors being overly complacent and optimistic about the direction of stocks.

The S&P 500 has risen more than 12 percent since the election of President Donald Trump spurred by expectations that his tax cut proposals and planned infrastructure spending will help economic growth. While threats to Trump’s plans have rattled investors they have failed to cause any significant pull back in stocks.

The CBOE Volatility Index <.VIX>, better known as the VIX and the most widely followed barometer of expected near-term stock market volatility, last week closed at 9.77, its lowest close since December 1993. On Monday, the VIX fell 0.11 point at 10.29.

“I’d say the market has been overly complacent for quite some time,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. “There are a lot of people shorting volatility, which means investors are not worried about much of anything right now.”

(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, Megan Davies, Sinead Carew and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York and Vikram Subhedar in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker)

World stocks retreat from record highs as valuations give cause for a pause

FILE PHOTO: Visitors looks at an electronic board showing the Japan's Nikkei average at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato/Files

By Vikram Subhedar

LONDON (Reuters) – Global stocks paused near record highs as worries over China’s banking system provided an excuse for investors to lock in some profits. The dollar was set for its best week of the year on bets the Federal Reserve will raise U.S. interest rates in June.

A dip on Wall Street overnight on signs of weak consumer spending and waning enthusiasm over the recovery in European corporate earnings has put MSCI’s gauge of world stock markets <.MIWD00000PUS> on track for its first weekly loss in four.

The index trades at now trades at more than 16 times forward earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data, and above its long-term average of 15.6 times.

U.S. stock futures <ESc1> were down another 0.2 percent on Friday.

“We’ve had a nervous twitch about China, over this week,” said Sean Darby, chief global equity strategist at Jefferies. “We’ve had a bit more of a regulatory overhang coming through in the financial system.”

China’s banking regulator this week launched emergency risk assessments of lenders’ new business practices, sources told Reuters, as Beijing extends its crackdown on shadow banking.

With corporate earnings seasons in the U.S. and Europe drawing to a close investors, focus is likely to shift back to central banks, particularly in the United States, where inflation pressures are growing.

U.S. data on Thursday showed producer prices rebounded more than expected last month, leading to the biggest annual gain in five years.

Combined with a tightening labor market, firming inflation backs market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next month. The central bank has forecast two more increases this year after raising rates a quarter of a point in March.

The stronger fundamentals in the U.S. helped offset uneasiness over political turmoil after President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI chief James Comey.

The dollar index, which tracks the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was flat on the day at 99.622 <.DXY>, but was up 1 percent for the week.

Sterling was steady on the day at $1.2886 <GBP=> after dropping to a one-week low on Thursday following the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Policymakers indicated that rates were unlikely to rise until late 2019.

EUROPE’S SWEET SPOT

In Europe, stock markets steadied this week. Company profits are expected to grow 20 percent in the first quarter, the best corporate results in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley.

Their outperformance this year against global peers remains intact, with the benchmark’s <.STOXX> 10 percent gains outpacing the 7 percent rise on the S&P 500 <.SPX>.

Greek stocks <.ATG> snapped a their longest winning streak in two decades.

“European stocks are still in the sweet spot of basking in the removal of political risk in Europe for the time being, though it is somewhat ironic that we could see a modest decline on the week as investors take stock,” said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.

European equity funds pulled in a record $6.1 billion in inflows in the week to May 10, according to data from EPFR, with centrist Emmanuel Macron’s win in the French presidential election seen as a trigger.

Concerns over valuations are beginning to emerge. Credit Suisse strategists cut their rating on Spain, the euro zone’s top performing market for the year, to “underperform,” saying the strong earnings and economic momentum was moderating.

At the same time, the collapse in volatility across asset classes to multi-year or record lows, is tempting more investors into making bets that markets will remain calm given the brighter outlook for global growth.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said its high-net-worth clients cut cash and resumed buying low-volatility exchange-traded funds.

Yields for the euro zone’s weaker borrowers, such as Italy, Portugal and Spain, were all also 1 to 3 basis points lower as investors awaited announcements of the volumes for expected bond sales next week by France and Spain.

Oil prices held recent gains as traders expected OPEC-led production cuts to extend beyond the middle of this year and as U.S. crude inventories fell to their lowest levels since February.

International Brent crude futures <LCOc1> were at $50.78 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures <CLc1> were at $47.85 per barrel, both little changed on the day.

(Reporting by Vikram Subhedar, editing by Larry King)

Oil spill leaves commodities spinning, safe-havens shine

Investors look at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – A slump in oil prices to the lowest in almost six months rattled markets on Friday, prompting a rally in safe-haven bonds, the yen and gold and taking the shine off a record-breaking week for world stocks.

Bourses flinched in both Asia and Europe and Wall Street also looked set for a subdued start as investors, who had been expecting to spend the day mostly looking ahead to U.S. jobs data and Sunday’s French elections, were caught off guard.

Traders had had to duck for cover overnight as both Brent <LCOc1> and U.S. <CLc1> crude fell more than 3 percent amid record trading volumes on mounting concerns about global oversupply.

Things only fully stabilized when Saudi Arabia’s OPEC chief hit the wires in European hours, saying there was a growing consensus among oil pumping countries that they needed to continue to “rebalance” the market.

Brent clawed back to $46.86 a barrel almost two dollars better off than its overnight low, but the scars left it an eye-watering 6 percent lower than at the start of the week.

“The whole commodity complex has been affected by this and it could have some pretty big implications if it continues for much longer,” said Saxo bank’s head of FX strategy John Hardy.

“If you look at global risk appetite, equities have been pretty quiet and that feeds into FX as well if carries on and there is a risk switch.”

Big commodity price drops do not just have an immediate impact on financial markets either.

As was seen during a slump between 2014 and 2016, they cause major headaches for countries that rely on their revenues. They also unleash deflationary forces, but can help energy-importing economies, firms and households by lowering their energy bills.

Oil has not been the only commodity that has suffered this week. Chinese iron ore futures <DCIOcv1> fell almost 7 percent in Shanghai overnight after tumbling 8 percent on Thursday.

Mining giant Rio Tinto <RIO.L> hit a six-month low, Glencore <GLEN.L> was set for its worst weekly loss in two months and copper miner Antofagasta <ANTO.L> since December.

The Canadian dollar <CAD=>, the Australian dollar <AUD=> and Russia’s rouble <RUB=> – some of the world’s most commodity- sensitive currencies – were all sent spinning, falling respectively to 14-month, four-month and seven-week lows.

They all fought back, though, after the Saudi OPEC governor’s comments to Reuters that: “A six-month extension (to production cuts) may be needed to rebalance the market, but the length of the extension is not firm yet.”

Rio Tinto <RIO.L> hit a six-month low on Friday, and Glencore <GLEN.L> was set for its worst weekly losses in two months, while for copper miner Antofagasta <ANTO.L> since December

LE PEN TO THE SWORD?

In calmer waters, the euro <EUR=> touched a six-month high of almost $1.10 ahead of France’s weekend election, in which polls now expect centrist Emmanuel Macron to convincingly beat right-wing and anti-euro rival Marine Le Pen.

The gap between French and German 10-year government borrowing costs also hit a six-month low and despite the dip on the day, European shares <.STOXX> were heading for a healthy 1.2 percent rise for the week. World shares <.MIWD00000PUS> hit a record high on Wednesday.

“I think now this election is no longer an issue and the market is already starting to focus on new issues: inflation, the (euro zone) economy, and the U.S. data,” said DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz.

He was referring to U.S. non-farm payroll numbers due out at 1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT) are expected to show 185,000 jobs were created in April following March’s underwhelming 98,000 figure.

The dollar <.DXY> and U.S. government bond yields <US10YT=RR> had both been nudged lower by the commodity market worries. It is set to be the fourth weekly fall on the trot for the greenback which is now at its lowest since November.

The yen <JPY=> and gold <XAU=> rose in tandem as investors took refuge in safe havens, though the latter remained on track for its biggest weekly decline in nearly six months on bets that U.S. interest rates will rise again in the coming months.

“I think the payrolls will be under consensus,” said fund manager Hermes chief economist Neil Williams.

“It fits with my view that the U.S. is going to peak out at a far lower interest rate than markets expect. The Fed’s dot plots says 3 percent, but I’m going closer to 1.5 percent.”

Emerging markets were also caught in the commodities sell-off. The main emerging currencies were all on track for weekly losses and MSCI’s closely-followed EM stocks index <.MSCIEF> hit a 10-day low.

China markets have also been wobbling in recent weeks but the commodity market woes have been the central focus.

Brent traded volumes on Thursday reached an all-time high of nearly 542,000 contracts, suggesting that big betting hedge funds may have been ripping out long positions.

“It is now-or-never for oil bulls,” said U.S. commodity analysis firm The Schork Report. “They either put up a defence here or risk further emboldening the bears for a run at the $40 threshold (for WTI).”

(Addition Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan, Veronica Brown and Helen Reid in London; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ed Osmond)

Wall St. flat as Fed meet kicks off; Nasdaq hits record

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 1, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – Wall Street was little changed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite edging lower after eking out another record high, as the Federal Reserve’s meeting kicks off.

While the Fed is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates, investors are awaiting the central bank’s statement, due on Wednesday, for clues regarding the future path of rate hikes.

“While no one expects any changes to policy, the 500-word statement will probably provide some direction to the dollar,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM.

“‘Will the Fed acknowledge a slowdown in growth and thus send rate hike expectations lower for 2017?’ The Fed’s statement should be answering these questions, and based on that, traders will act.”

Strong corporate earnings for the first quarter have largely outweighed concerns about patches of weak economic data, including a report last week that showed the U.S. economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the first quarter.

At 9:50 a.m. ET (1350 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 5.59 points, or 0.03 percent, at 20,919.05. The S&P 500 <.SPX> was down 1.45 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,386.88 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was down 6.52 points, or 0.11 percent, at 6,085.09.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the industrials index’s <.SPLRCI> 0.34 percent rise leading the advancers.

Investors are bracing for another heavy week of corporate reports to see if quarterly earnings will keep on exceeding expectations.

Overall, profits at S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 13.6 percent in the first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of Apple <AAPL.O> rose as much as 0.8 percent to $147.69, hitting a record high for the second straight day. The stock was the biggest boost on the S&P and Nasdaq. The iPhone maker is due to report results after the close of market.

Dow component Pfizer <PFE.N> was down 1.2 percent at $33.36 after the drugmaker’s quarterly revenue missed estimates.

MasterCard <MA.N> rose 2.1 percent to $118.73 as the world’s second-largest payments network’s quarterly profit rose.

Advanced Micro Devices <AMD.O> tumbled 16.2 percent to $11.45 after the chipmaker’s second-quarter gross margins forecast raised some concerns.

Coach <COH.N> rose 6.2 percent to $41.12 after the handbag maker reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,321 to 1,263. On the Nasdaq, 1,300 issues fell and 1,052 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed 30 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 91 new highs and 19 new lows.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

Frugal U.S. consumers seen holding back first-quarter GDP

People shop at The Grove mall in Los Angeles November 26, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy likely hit a soft patch in the first quarter as an unseasonably warm winter and rising inflation weighed on consumer spending, in a potential setback to President Donald Trump’s promise to boost growth.

Reduced business investment in inventories and government spending cuts also crimped gross domestic product growth. A Reuters survey of economists conducted last week forecast GDP rising at a 1.2 percent annual rate, but many economists lowered their estimates after the government on Thursday released advance reports on the goods trade deficit and inventories in March.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting the economy growing at only a 0.2 percent rate in the first quarter, which would be the weakest performance in three years.

The economy grew at a 2.1 percent pace in the fourth quarter. The government will publish its advance first-quarter GDP estimate on Friday at 8:30 a.m. The expected sluggish first-quarter growth pace, however, is not a true picture of the economy’s health.

The labor market is near full employment and consumer confidence is near multi-year highs, suggesting that the mostly weather-induced slowdown in consumer spending is probably temporary. First-quarter GDP tends to underperform because of difficulties with the calculation of data that the government has acknowledged and is working to rectify.

“The weakness is not a reflection of the underlying health of the economy, part of it is residual seasonality,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “It has become more understood over the past few years, that’s why people often discount first-quarter GDP.”

Even without the seasonal quirk and temporary restraints, economists say it would be difficult for Trump to fulfill his pledge to raise annual GDP growth to 4 percent, without increases in productivity.

Trump is targeting infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation to achieve his goal of faster economic growth.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration proposed a tax plan that includes cutting the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, but offered no details.

ANEMIC CONSUMER SPENDING

Economists estimate that growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, braked to below a 1.0 percent rate in the first quarter. That would be the slowest pace in nearly four years and follows the fourth quarter’s robust 3.5 percent growth rate.

The expected weakness in consumer spending is blamed on a mild winter, which undermined demand for heating and utilities production. Higher inflation, which saw the consumer price index averaging 2.5 percent in the first quarter, also hurt spending.

Government delays issuing income tax refunds to combat fraud also weighed on consumer spending. Economists said Federal Reserve officials were likely to view both the anemic consumer spending and GDP growth as temporary when they meet next week. The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates.

“The good news is that the Fed in recent years has distanced itself from the GDP numbers,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP in Jersey City, New Jersey. “A weak first-quarter GDP print should not affect the policy debate.”

After contributing to GDP growth for two straight quarters, inventory investment was likely a drag in the first quarter. JPMorgan is forecasting inventories chopping off one percentage point from GDP growth. Trade was likely neutral after being a huge drag in the fourth quarter.

But some good news is expected. Business investment likely rose further, with spending on equipment seen accelerating thanks to rising gas and oil well drilling as oil prices continue their recovery from multi-year lows.

Investment in home building is also expected to have gained momentum in the first quarter.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Nasdaq tops 6,000, Dow surges as earnings impress

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – The Nasdaq crossed the 6,000 threshold for the first time on Tuesday, while the Dow registered triple-digit gains as strong earnings underscored the health of Corporate America.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much as 0.70 percent to hit a record level of 6,026.02, powered by gains in index heavyweights Apple <AAPL.O> and Microsoft <MSFT.O>.

The index had breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom.

Tuesday’s gains build on a day-earlier rally, which was driven by the victory of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election. Polls show Macron is likely to beat his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote on May 7.

“Political headlines in Europe don’t tend to stick, but create buying opportunities more than having long-term consequences,” said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments.

At 12:49 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 235.96 points, or 1.14 percent, at 20,999.85, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 13.17 points, or 0.55 percent, at 2,387.32 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 39.91 points, or 0.67 percent, at 6,023.73.

Investors are also keeping a close watch on the latest earnings season, hoping that companies will be able to justify their lofty valuations, which were spurred in part by President Donald Trump’s pro-growth promises.

Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11 percent in the first quarter – the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Trump, who had promised to make “a big tax reform” announcement on Wednesday, has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.

The Dow outperformed other major sectors, largely due to a surge in Caterpillar <CAT.N> and McDonald’s <MCD.N> after they reported better-than-expected profits.

Eight of the S&P 500’s 11 major sectors were higher. DuPont’s <DD.N> 2.8 percent increase, following a profit beat, helped the materials sector <.SPRLCM> top the list of gainers.

Biogen <BIIB.O> jumped nearly 4 percent after the biotech company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,017 to 853. On the Nasdaq, 2,020 issues rose and 766 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 80 52-week highs and three lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 194 highs and 36 lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)