Momentum on Wall Street Fades, Bank Earnings in Focus

Nichole Harper
08 Jul, 2013
New York City

U.S. indexes lost early momentum after opening sharply higher. Investors are set to review earnings from banks later in the week and Alcoa is scheduled to kick-off earnings season after the close. European markets soared between 1% and 2%.

[R]12:10 PM New York – U.S. indexes lost early momentum after opening sharply higher. Investors are set to review earnings from banks later in the week and Alcoa is scheduled to kick-off earnings season after the close. European markets soared between 1% and 2%.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street opened higher after European markets surged and commodities prices weakened. At mid-day, market indexes were struggling to stay in positive zone.

The S&P 500 index opened up 0.8% but at mid-day the index increase was cut to 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.1% and declined from the opening jump of 0.4%.

Investors are looking ahead and banks are scheduled to release earnings later in the week.

Alcoa is schedule to kick-off earnings season after the market close and later in the week, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Yum! Brands are among several companies to release earnings.

European Markets

European markets soared more between 1% and 2% after Portugal avoided political crisis and a governing coalition stayed together after politicians worked out an agreement.

In London, FTSE 100 index increased 1.2% and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 2.1% and in Paris the CAC 40 index added 1.9%.

In Germany, industrial production declined 1% in May from the revised 2% increase in April, according to a report.

In addition, Euro-area finance ministers discussed the progress in Greece in implementing austerity measures and increasing tax revenues to meet conditions laid out by the International Monetary Fund and European Commission.

Asian Markets

Asian markets trended lower after anemic market sentiment in Shanghai. Chinese government official’s comments suggested that the central bank may stop lending banks to consolidate among banks and construction sector to halt speculative building.

The weak sentiment in Shanghai dragged the index down 2.4% and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong declined 1.3%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index decreased 1.4% on the weakness in China and the yen dropped to a 5-week low to 101.14 against one dollar. Separately, SoftBank debt was lowered to junk status by the credit rating company Standard & Poor’s.

The indexes in Mumbai declined 0.9% and extended loss for the year to 2.8%. Rupee dropped to a new low and traded at 61.16 as the dollar gained against currencies of emerging markets.