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Stock market ekes out gains as earnings season begins
15-Jul-19 16:20 ET
Dow +27.13 at 27359.16, Nasdaq +14.04 at 8258.18, S&P +0.53 at 3014.30

https://www.briefing.com/investor/markets/stock-market-update/2019/7/15/stock-market-ekes-out-gains-as-earnings-season-begins.htm

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market eked out small gains on Monday. The major averages struggled to find direction, but the S&P 500 (+0.02%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%), and Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) did manage to set new record closes. The small-cap Russell 2000 underperformed with a loss of 0.5%.

Citigroup (C 71.73, -0.04, -0.1%) kicked off the second quarter earnings-reporting season with better-than-expected results, but the response was underwhelming as some questioned the quality of its report. On a related note, shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM 113.90, -1.40, -1.2%), Wells Fargo (WFC 46.70, -0.66, -1.4%), and Goldman Sachs (GS 211.58, -2.36, -1.1%) each lost over 1.0% ahead of the companies' results tomorrow morning.

Their collective weakness weighed on the S&P 500 financials sector (-0.5%), while lower oil prices ($59.51/bbl, -$0.13, -2.9%) put some pressure on the underperforming energy sector (-0.9%). The industrials sector (-0.4%) was the one other group to finish lower amid weakness from its top-weighted components, including Boeing (BA 361.61, -3.72, -1.0%) and General Electric (GE 10.27, -0.10, -1.0%).

Specifically, Boeing's 737 MAX issues continued to weigh on the stock with the planes possibly being grounded into next year, according to The Wall Street Journal. General Electric was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

It was still a mostly positive day, though, with gains in the other eight S&P 500 sectors providing offsetting support. The utilities (+0.4%), consumer discretionary (+0.3%), and information technology (+0.3%) sectors showed relative strength on Monday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was a notable standout with a gain of 0.8%.

Semiconductor company Broadcom (AVGO 288.34, +2.95, +1.0%) outperformed on reports that acquisition talks with Symantec (SYMC 22.84, -2.73, -10.7%) broke down. The China-sensitive industry might have also drawn some interest after Beijing reported better-than-expected data for industrial production, fixed asset investment, and retail sales for June.

U.S. Treasuries finished slightly higher in a quiet session. The 2-yr yield and the 10-yr yield declined one basis point each to 1.83% and 2.09%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.1% to 96.95. WTI crude declined 1.2% to $59.51/bbl.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey for July was Monday's lone economic report:

It checked in at 4.3 versus a June reading of -8.6. That was below the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 5.0, yet above the 0.0 demarcation line between expansion and contraction. Furthermore, there was a bump in the index for future business conditions to 30.8 from 25.7.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the following economic reports on Tuesday: Retail Sales for June, Import and Export Prices for June, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for June, Business Inventories for May, the NAHB Housing market Index for July, and Net Long-Term TIC Flows for May.

Nasdaq Composite +24.5% YTD
S&P 500 +20.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +17.3% YTD
Russell 2000 +15.8% YTD