The markets mostly traded in a quiet range today as investors had good earnings to celebrate and stronger Chinese economic numbers, but continued weakening in the healthcare space held back the bulls today. The Dow 30 closed the day lower by only 3, the S&P 500 sold off 6, and the Nasdaq closed lower by 4. The Russell 2000 was a notable index today with a selloff of about 1%.
Tomorrow earnings season continues with reports from American Express (AXP ), Honeywell (HON ), Skechers (SKX ) and Phillip Morris (PM ).
Sector News
Semiconductors (SMH ) shot to new highs again today thanks to the continued rally from Qualcomm (QCOM ) following their settlement announcement with Apple (AAPL ) yesterday. Qualcomm is currently about a 9% holding in the SMH. Another supporter today was Intel (INTC ), as the company announced they'll be getting out of the smartphone business as they don't see a path to profitability.
Transports (IYT ) were higher today thanks in part to earnings from CSX (CSX ), which beat by 11 cents. The company cited higher prices and lower costs for fuel as the main reasons for the beat. This also helped support the other railroad companies, which traded higher in sync with CSX. United Airlines (UAL ) was also a supporter of the sector today with their earnings beat.
Stock News
Morgan Stanley (MS ) was the latest big bank to report earnings, which came in higher than expected by $0.16. Revenue was also higher than expected as the company says they had a strong quarter in their Wealth Management division despite a slow start to the year. Shares moved higher on the report, initially supporting the banking sector.
Netflix (NFLX ) shares were lower today as the company reported lower guidance on subscribers going forward. The company beat on earnings by 76 cents as well as total subscriber count, but lowered their outlook for new subscribers in the second quarter. Shares remain in a tighter range near highs of the year.
PepsiCo (PEP ) shares broke to new highs today as the company beat on earnings by 5 cents. They also reported revenue that was higher than expected and cited the higher sales of their "healthier" offerings as one of the reasons. Overall sales saw an uptick, which helped the bulls push the stock to new highs today.
