US stocks waver ahead of technology-heavy earnings week

AP , Monday 24 Oct 2022

Stocks shifted between gains and losses in morning trading on Wall Street Monday ahead of a heavy week of earnings from big tech companies.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 14, 2022 in New York City. AFP

 

The S&P 500 gave up an early gain and was down 0.2% as of 10:26 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 233 points, or 0.8%, to 31,320 and the Nasdaq fell 0.9%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which impacts mortgage rates, rose to 4.28% from 4.22% late Friday.

Google's parent company, along with Facebook's parent, Amazon and Apple are all reporting their latest financial results this week. They are among the priciest stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 and their earnings this week could mean big moves, up or down, for the broader market.

Several big companies outside of the tech sector are also reporting earnings this week, including Coca-Cola, General Motors and Caterpillar.

Investors are closely reviewing the latest round of corporate earnings to get a better picture of inflation's impact on different areas of the economy. Prices on everything from clothing to food remain at their highest levels in four decades. That has put pressure on companies to raise prices and cut costs, while squeezing consumers.

The Federal Reserve and central banks around the world have been raising interest rates in an effort to tame inflation. That has made borrowing more expensive and has also been weighing on expensive stocks, such as big technology companies. Economists and investors are worried that the rate increases could go too far in slowing the economy and push it into a recession.

The U.S. economy is already slowing down and actually contracted during the first half the year. The government will release its third-quarter gross domestic product report on Thursday.

Markets in Europe made solid gains. U.K. government bonds rallied as Treasury chief Rishi Sunak became assured of becoming the prime minster, replacing Liz Truss, who quit last week after her tax-cutting economic package caused turmoil in financial markets.

In Asia, Hong Kong's benchmark plunged 6.4% on Monday as dismay over a lack of fresh policy initiatives from a Chinese Communist Party congress overshadowed a report that the No. 2 economy grew at a faster pace in the last quarter.

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