Stock market Dow pops as earnings season approaches
Wall Street’s major indexes closed higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8% to 51,654. Investors looked ahead to third-quarter earnings…
The stock market Dow pops as Wall Street’s three major indexes finish the week higher, even as bond yields and oil prices rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8% to close at 51,654 on Friday, while investors turned their attention to the start of third-quarter earnings season.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 7,811 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to 27,366, according to Yahoo Finance. All three benchmarks ended the week in positive territory.
The gains came despite signs of pressure on household finances and renewed increases in Treasury yields. That mix leaves investors weighing company results against costs and consumer sentiment as major banks prepare to report.
Stock market Dow pops ahead of bank reports
JPMorgan Chase and other large bank stocks are among the companies preparing to kick off the third-quarter reporting season next week, Investor’s Business Daily reported. Investors will be watching those results for evidence of how companies are performing amid higher energy costs and broader economic concerns.
Yahoo Finance reported that the yield on the 2-year Treasury rose 3.3 basis points to 4.793%, while the 10-year yield increased 1.1 basis points to 5.244% on Friday.
Oil also advanced. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 0.4% to settle at $91.85 per barrel. Rising energy costs are expected to keep price pressures elevated, with the latest inflation updates due next week, beginning with Wednesday morning’s release of the September Consumer Price Index.
Investors still had reason to focus on corporate results. Bob Edwards, chief investment officer at Edwards Asset Management, said the “wall of worry” is “getting taller,” but argued investors may be giving too much weight to bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty while overlooking corporate earnings strength.
“Third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth year-over-year is expected to approach 30%,” Edwards said, according to Yahoo Finance. He described the coming reports as a reminder of the earnings outlook.
Consumer confidence falls as costs remain a concern
The University of Michigan’s preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index fell 3.7% month over month to 46.3 in October, its second-lowest reading on record, Yahoo Finance reported. The decline adds a consumer-focused counterpoint to the stronger weekly performance in stocks.
Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, said frustration about the cost of living continues to build, with consumers across the political spectrum seeing the economy’s direction as weaker than at the start of the year.
That matters beyond the trading session. Higher fuel costs can feed into broader price pressures, while a weaker view of household finances may weigh on spending decisions. The source reports both developments, though it does not quantify any direct effect on consumer spending.
Jim Baird, chief investment officer with Plante Moran Financial Advisors, said frustration over prices and financial strain could become visible when voters cast ballots in the coming weeks. His comments linked consumer concerns to the political climate without changing the immediate focus for markets: upcoming company results and inflation data.
Telecom shares slide after SpaceX spectrum news
Individual stocks moved sharply in response to company news. AT&T fell 9.8%, T-Mobile US dropped 13.3% and Verizon Communications declined 8.8% Friday after SpaceX said Thursday it was buying a nationwide portfolio of low-band spectrum licenses, Yahoo Finance reported.
The purchase brings SpaceX closer to developing its Starlink Mobile business, described in the source as aiming to become “a major mobile carrier in the U.S.” UBS Global Research analyst John Hodulik called the move the most tangible step yet toward building the components of a mobile network. He also characterized the telecom sell-off as “a knee-jerk reaction,” given the likely length of the buildout.
Wireless tower companies moved in the opposite direction. American Tower rose 9.3% and Crown Castle gained 15.6%, according to Yahoo Finance.
Delta Air Lines also reported results Friday. The carrier posted earnings of $1.72 per share, up 0.6% year over year but below analysts’ estimate of $1.76. The report said the result was Delta’s first bottom-line miss in the relevant period, but the available text cuts off before specifying further details. Investors now turn to next week’s bank reports and inflation release.
Source: investors.com
