U.S. Stocks Slip Amid Bank Earnings
July 16 2019 - 10:05AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul J. Davies
-- Dow industrials drop less than 0.1%, S&P 500 falls
0.1%
-- Goldman shares rise on dividend boost
-- JPMorgan and Wells Fargo slide
U.S. stocks fell slightly Tuesday after a set of mixed
second-quarter earnings reports from three major banks and other
companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22 points, or less than
0.1%, to 27336 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500
dropped 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite also declined 0.1%.
Goldman Sachs reported a decline in second-quarter earnings
versus a year earlier, but lifted its dividend to $1.25, which
helped its stock rise by 1.4%. JPMorgan Chase posted revenue in
line with expectations for the second quarter and its shares fell
0.2%. Wells Fargo slipped less than 0.1% after its own quarterly
report.
Johnson & Johnson reported earnings per share up 43% versus
the same period last year and increased its guidance for
operational sales. Its shares dropped 1.4%.
The British pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar in
two years after a debate between the U.K.'s leadership candidates
appeared to raise fears of an abrupt Brexit.
Sterling dropped 0.6% against the dollar to $1.24, its lowest
since April 2017. It fell 0.3% versus the euro to EUR1.11 after
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, the two candidates vying to take
over from departing Theresa May, both said Monday evening they
wouldn't accept the so-called Irish backstop previously agreed with
the European Union as part of the long negotiations over
Brexit.
Their stance was likely to set up a clash with European leaders
and may make for an abrupt exit without any agreement on Britain's
future relationship with the bloc.
"This story confirms both candidates have set themselves a
self-defeating high bar for talks with the EU," said Jordan
Rochester, global FX strategist at Nomura in London.
Burberry Group PLC was among the biggest risers in European
markets Tuesday, after the British luxury fashion brand said this
year's collection delivered strong double-digit percentage growth,
in line with its expectations.
European equities were mostly flat with little news to give the
market direction. In China, stocks in Shenzhen were fractionally
lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.2%.
Government-bond yields rose, with U.S. 10-year Treasury yields
at 2.127%, from 2.093% Monday.
In commodities, Brent crude oil was up 0.1% at $66.59 a barrel
and gold fell 0.2% to $1,410 an ounce.
Write to Paul J. Davies at paul.davies@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 16, 2019 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT)
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