While Australia and New Zealand reflect on the Anzac Day public holiday, investors on Wall Street and Europe continued to breath a sigh of relief as stock markets extended their rally on both sides of the Atlantic, with Alphabet’s earnings at the top of the watch-list.
The thaw in US-China relations have bumped up markets in recent days, although Beijing officials have been downplaying any talk of any talks going on, while earnings have been a mixed bag, with the likes of Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Chipotle Mexican Grill and American Airlines putting the hood back over the crystal ball as consumers’ behaviour is too hard to predict
Still, almost three-quarters of S&P 500 companies reporting in the latest period have beaten expectations, and the Magnificent 7 were riding again after an upbeat result from software firm ServiceNow.
Meanwhile, local dairy companies will be poring over the results of food companies after Nestle beat earnings expectations, following similar upbeat earnings from Danone yesterday.
Softly, softly
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 2.4% and the S&P 500 gained 1.9% in afternoon trading as investors continued to take heart that US President Donald Trump is toning down his rhetoric for now.
The US administration raised the prospect of reducing the punitive tariffs imposed on China and for a deal to be cut, although Chinese officials were adamant no official trade talks have started.
The White House has been holding a flurry of talks this week, meeting with officials from the likes of South Korea, Poland and Turkey.
Mega-stocks including Nvidia, Tesla and Apple were among the day’s gainers as investors welcomed a stronger-than-expected result from ServiceNow. And while IBM beat predictions, the stock slumped as it warned the heightened uncertainty was weighing on investment decisions.
Toymaker Hasbro rallied after beating earnings expectations and affirming guidance despite the escalating tariff war, while firms including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Chipotle Mexican Grill and American Airlines cut or withdrew their guidance.
Not what you think
Of the 157 companies on the S&P 500, 74% have so far beaten analysts’ expectations.
Across the pond, European markets were also stronger, with the UK’s FTSE 100 edging up 0.1% and Germany’s DAX 30 advancing 0.5%.
Nestle edged higher after reporting higher sales than expected as it passed on price hikes on its coffee and chocolate products, following Danone’s report on Wednesday when the French food company reaffirmed annual guidance with a strong start to the year.
Meanwhile, Japanese carmaker Nissan said it expects to report a loss of about US$5 billion in the March year as impairments and restructuring charges combine with falling sales, particularly in China.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand are closed for Anzac Day today.
The kiwi dollar rose to 59.91 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 59.53 cents yesterday.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Kate Sears on Unsplash.
