Bank Earnings and Retail Sales Results Cause U.S. Stocks to Drop
The first-quarter reporting season was kicked off by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) and retail sales data was not as strong as anticipated, causing U.S. stocks to become negative.
By 11:10 AM Eastern Time (3:10 PM Greenwich Mean Time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average had decreased by 177 points, which equates to a 0.5% fall in value. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 had dropped by 0.3% and the Nasdaq had decreased by 0.4%.
JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have all exceeded their expected earnings for the quarter, despite turbulence caused by the collapse of two major banks.
In March, retail sales experienced a decrease of 1%, which was higher than originally anticipated. This decline can be attributed to consumers limiting their expenditures on high-cost items such as automobiles.
The latest financial information, which involves the purchasing of goods and services, indicates that the economy is slowing down as a result of the Federal Reserve's strong approach to reduce inflation by frequently altering the interest rates. Those who speculate and make decisions about business in the future predict that the Federal Reserve will increase the rate by another 0.25%, at the upcoming meeting in May.
On Friday, the President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, Raphael Bostic, stated that increasing the interest rate by 0.25% could provide the central bank with more assurance that it has stimulated inflation towards the desired goal of 2%. This could result in the end of the tightening cycle.
The overall outlook of consumers remains steady. As per the latest consumer sentiment index for April by the University of Michigan, the score was recorded at 63.5, which surpassed the predicted score of 62.
The shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) dropped by 2.9% upon the announcement of their profits for the quarter and their revised forecast for the year.
Shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:) dropped by over 5.6% due to the temporary halt in delivery of certain 737 MAXs as a result of issues with the quality of the suppliers.
The price of oil was increasing, with a 0.6% rise to $82.71 per barrel, and a 0.3% increase to $86.34 per barrel. However, it was a different story for another type of commodity as it experienced a 2% decrease, falling to $2,013.
