Major stocks rise
Major stock futures rose as investors welcomed reports of bigger corporate earnings.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%.
- S&P 500 futures added 0.81%.
- Nasdaq-100 futures added 1.2%.
Hilton, PepsiCo, and Kellogg have scheduled their earnings announcements. PayPal, Lyft, and Expedia will report after the market closes.
Investors are watching earnings season closely for how companies have fared despite high inflation and for clues about how they will lead in the future. However, this earnings season has not been exemplary.
So far, 63.43% of S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter earnings. Of those companies, 69.62% beat analysts’ expectations, FactSet results show. According to The Earnings Scout, that acceptance rate is below the three-year average of 79.31%.
Wall Street is coming off a losing session, along with the Dow 207 points lost. The S&P 500 fell 1.131%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.73%.
The next phase of the rally in 2023 may depend on the Fed’s next policy moves. Earlier this week, the Fed chair said inflation was falling, but rates could still rise.
European stocks rally
European shares rose in the morning after German inflation was lower than expected.
- Benchmark Stoxx 600 rose 0.82%.
- Germany’s Dax rose 1.32%.
- France’s CAC 40 index rose 1 %.
In January, inflation in the eurozone’s largest economy rose 9.21% year-on-year, below economists’ expectations.
The yield on the 10-year bond fell 0.051% to 2.32%, while the two-year contract eased 0.05% to 2.69%.
Market experts said that investors were somewhat relieved by the European Central Bank’s pace of rate hikes.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.72% on Wednesday after Google parent Alphabet disappointed investors with a holdup on its new artificial intelligence software, sending its shares down 7.43%.
