U.S. Stocks Were Mixed While European Stocks Closed Higher

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks erased early gains by the end of the session, with technology stocks weighing down broader benchmarks after JPMorgan Chase, as well as the other U.S. banks reported strong profits.

However, European stocks eked out small gains by the close on April 14, as investors monitored corporate earnings and the progress of vaccine rollouts. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.2% on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 advanced about 0.4% as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares jumped in Paris on strong results. The LVMH’s watches and jewelry unit saw organic revenue growth 35% year on year in the first quarter since the integration of Tiffany. Also, core fashion saw a growth of 52%.

Stocks in Europe strengthened their positions thanks to a mildly positive hangover from Asia-Pacific.

Mainland Chinese stocks led to gains in Asia-Pacific on April 14, as Chinese tech stocks listed in the city jumped. The Shanghai Composite added 0.6% to 3,416.72. At the same time, the Shenzhen component gained 1.55% to 13,728.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.42% to close at 28,900.83.

Shares of Baidu in Hong Kong gained 3.021%, while JD.com added 2.55% and Meituan jumped 3.62%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.44% to end its trading day at 29,620.99. The Topix index dropped 0.33% to 1,952.18.

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.42% to finish its trading day at 7,023.10.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.66% to close at 7,023.10.

U.S. stocks and earnings season

The U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday due to the earnings season. For example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53.62 points or 0.2% to 33,730.89 and it closed just 0.2% shy of a new record. The S&P 500 was not so lucky, as it fell 16.93 points or 0.4% to 4,124.66.  The Nasdaq Composite dropped 138.26 points or 1% to 13,857.84.

In the case of the S&P 500, consumer discretionary, technology, and communications stocks were the weakest performers. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 0.8%.

Large banks surpassed analysts’ earnings forecasts across the board. JPMorgan reported a profit of $4.50 a share, easily surpassing estimates for $3.10 a share. Goldman Sachs also exceeded expectations, as it reported earnings of $18.60 a share. Wells Fargo outperformed earnings forecasts, reporting a profit of $1.05 a share, ahead of estimates for 70 cents.

The market reaction was quite interesting, as JPMorgan Chase stock was down 1.9%, but Wells Fargo added 5.5%. Goldman Sachs added 2.3%.