US STOCKS-S&P 500 closes up, focus on earnings and US interest rates

Rambus

06/02/2024 21:33

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      Lilly sees 2024 profit above estimates
    

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      Palantir shares soar on AI revenue boost
    

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      DuPont surges on $1 bln stock buyback target, dividend
hike
    

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      Indexes up: Dow 0.37%, S&P 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.07%
    

  
 (Updates prices after U.S. market close)
    By Sinéad Carew and Johann M  Cherian
       Feb 6 (Reuters) - 
    The S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Tuesday, as investors
scrutinized a mixed bag of earnings at big U.S. companies and
digested comments from Federal Reserve policy makers for clues
about its first planned interest-rate cut.
    Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the central
bank is "not done yet" with inflation although he noted it had
come down quickly with three-month and six-month inflation data
"basically" at the Fed's 2% goal. 
    Also, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that if
the U.S. economy performs as she expects this could open the
door to rate cuts. But Mester said she was not ready yet to
suggest timing for easier policy due to inflation uncertainty.
    On Sunday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell dashed any remaining
hopes for a March rate cut. He had said the Fed can be "prudent"
in deciding when to cut with a strong economy allowing time to
build confidence that inflation is under control.  
    "The big macro news today is a couple of Fed governors
confirming what Powell said over the weekend. It's putting a
little damper on markets today. It's a little follow through
from yesterday," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment
Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. 
        Stocks were down for much of the session before rising
just ahead of the close.
  
        The Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  rose 141.24
points, or 0.37%, to 38,521.36. The S&P 500  .SPX  climbed 11.42
points, or 0.23 %, to 4,954.23 and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC 
gained 11.32 points, or 0.07 %, to end at 15,609.00. 
  
        John Praveen, Managing Director & Co-CIO at Paleo Leon
said the Fed should not wait too long to ease policy as troubles
at regional Bank NY Community Bancorp  NYCB.K  spotlight
weakness in the rate-sensitive commercial real estate sector. 
    Powell also referred to the sector on Sunday. On Tuesday,
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was concerned
about commercial real estate stresses on banks and property
owners, yet she believes the situation is manageable with
assistance from bank regulators.
    Praveen saw the comments adding to investor jitters. 
        The KBW Regional Banking index  .KRX  finished down
1.4%, marking a 12.6% drop over six sessions. New York Community
Bancorp  NYCB.N  shares ended down 22.2%. The lender has lost
about 60% of its value since it reported a surprise quarterly
loss last week citing write-offs for some real estate clients. 
  
        
    Airlines
     helped advance the Dow Jones Transport Average  .DJT ,
which closed up 2.1%, with signs of strong air travel demand.
Frontier Group Holdings'  ULCC.O  rallied 20.8% after it
surprised investors with a  break-even financial report. 
  
    With over half of S&P 500 companies now having reported
earnings, 81.2% surpassed expectations, according to LSEG data.
Overall S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 8.1% in the
fourth quarter from the year-ago quarter.
    GE HealthCare Technologies  GEHC.O  finished up 11.6% after
the medtech firm posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter
earnings, driving the S&P 500 healthcare sector  .SPXHC  to an
all-time high.
    The materials index  .SPLRCM  was the biggest gainer among
the S&P 500's 11 major sectors. It gained 1.7% with shares in
chemicals firm DuPont de Nemours  DD.N  jumping 7.4% after it
beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, announcing a $1 billion
share-repurchase program and hiking its dividend. 
        Palantir Technologies  PLTR.N  shares soared 30.8% after
forecasting upbeat annual profit. 
    However, Eli Lilly  LLY.N  closed down 0.2% even after
forecasting 2024 profit above estimates.
    Chip stocks pressured the tech-heavy Nasdaq with the
Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index  .SOX  ending down 1%.
Rambus Inc  RMBS.O  led declines in the sector as its shares
plunged 19.2% after its quarterly report.
        Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.6-to-1
ratio on the NYSE. There were 190 new highs and 64 new lows on
the NYSE.
  
        On the Nasdaq 2,721 issues advanced and 1,476 declined
as Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.8-to-1 ratio on
the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 8 new
lows while the Nasdaq recorded 110 new highs and 122 new lows.
  
        On U.S. exchanges 11.21 billion shares changed hands
compared with the 11.54 billion average for the last 20
sessions. 
  

 (Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Johann M Cherian and
Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and David
Gregorio)
 ((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; +13322191897;))