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Wall Street Finishes Little Changed in Front of Earnings Season
11-Apr-19 16:15 ET
Dow -14.11 at 26143.05, Nasdaq -16.88 at 7947.36, S&P +0.11 at 2888.32

https://www.briefing.com/investor/markets/stock-market-update/2019/4/11/wall-street-finishes-little-changed-in-front-of-earnings-season.htm

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market finished little changed on Thursday in a tight-ranged trading session. The S&P 500 (unch) finished fractionally higher, as relative strength from financial and industrial stocks helped mitigate losses from shares of health care companies in front of earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%, and the Russell 2000 lost 0.2%.

The S&P 500 seemed content trading in a wait-and-see mode before attempting to break above the 2900 level, which has been an area of resistance for the benchmark index. Despite the lack of market-moving catalysts, the market did receive some positive signals: weekly initial jobless claims hit their lowest level since 1969, and Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida believes the economy is in a good place.

Similarly, there was no specific driver for the noticeable decline in the S&P 500 health care sector (-1.2%). The broad-based selling in the group could have been a move to reduce exposure from the year's worst-performing sector. Heavyweight UnitedHealth (UNH 235.42, -10.61, -4.3%) and many of the components within the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (IBB 111.90, -1.94, -1.7%) led the space lower.

The financial sector (+0.6%), meanwhile, exhibited strength in front of earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 106.23, +0.89, +0.8%) and Wells Fargo (WFC 47.74, -0.05, -0.1%) tomorrow.

Fastenal (FAST 68.48, +3.29, +5.1%) and many of the airline stocks contributed to the outperformance of the industrial sector (+0.9%). Fastenal provided better-than-expected earnings results, and airline stocks continued to rally on Delta Air Lines' (DAL 58.39, +0.53, +0.9%) upbeat earnings report from yesterday.

In other corporate news, Tesla (TSLA 268.42, -7.64, -2.8%) and Panasonic suspended plans to expand Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada; Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY 17.71, -1.70, -8.8%) disappointed investors with its earnings report; and Caesar Entertainment (CZR 9.40, +0.35, +3.9%) is reportedly interested in selling itself.

U.S. Treasuries finished on a lower note, pushing yields higher across the curve. The 2-yr yield increased four basis points to 2.35%, and the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 2.50%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 97.16. WTI crude fell 1.4% to $63.65/bbl.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included the Producer Price Index for March and the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report:

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.6% in March (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%), bolstered predominately by a pickup in energy prices. The index for final demand, excluding food and energy, was up 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%).
The key takeaway from the report is that producer prices were up noticeably in March, yet there won't be any alarming read through at this juncture for market participants who are cognizant that the Consumer Price Index for March showed a moderation in the year-over-year increase for core CPI.
Initial claims for the week ending April 6 decreased by 8,000 to 196,000 (Briefing.com consensus 215,000). Continuing claims for the week ending March 30 fell by 13,000 to 1.713 million.
The key takeaway from this leading-indicator report is that it clearly shows employers are reluctant to let go of employees, either because they can't find other qualified workers or because they see demand being strong enough to justify the size of their existing work force.

Looking ahead, investors will receive Import and Export Prices for March and the preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for April on Friday.

Nasdaq Composite +19.8% YTD
Russell 2000 +17.1% YTD
S&P 500 +15.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +12.1% YTD