U.S. Indexes Trade Near Record Highs on Apple, Microsoft Earnings

Nichole Harper
23 Jul, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher and market indexes flirted with recent record highs. Apple, Microsoft and Pepsi earnings met or exceeded analyst expectations. Market indexes in Europe traded flat and Asian markets closed mixed on domestic corporate earnings.

[R]1:10 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street traded higher and market indexes flirted with recent record highs. Apple, Microsoft and Pepsi earnings met or exceeded analyst expectations. Market indexes in Europe traded flat and Asian markets closed mixed on domestic corporate earnings.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street opened higher after the latest batch of earnings from Apple, Boeing, Microsoft and Pepsi met or exceeded expectations.

Tollbooth Index tracking companies with rising bargaining power rose 0.2% or 16.48 to 9,555.74.

S&P 500 index increased 2.33 to 1,985.87 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.84 to 4,468.88.

U.S. Movers

Apple Inc ((AAPL)) climbed 3.2% or $3.04 to $97.53 after electronics and wireless gadgets maker reported revenue in the third-quarter ending on June 28 jumped 5.9% to $37.43 billion from a year ago.

Net income in the quarter surged 12.3% to $7.75 billion or $1.28 a diluted share compared to $6.90 billion or $1.07 from a year earlier.

Sales and revenue in the quarter from iPad business dropped 9% to 13.3 million units or $5.89 billion and sales and revenue from iPod business tumbled 36% to 2.9 million units or $442 million from a year ago.

Luca Maestri, chief financial officer said Apple has completed $74 billion of $130 billion capital return program to shareholders with six quarters remaining to its complete the full plan.

Apple forecasted revenue in the fourth-quarter between $37 billion and $40 billion and gross margin in the range of 37% to 38%.

Microsoft Corporation ((MSFT)) rose 35 cents to $45.20 after the software developer reported revenue in the fourth-quarter ending in June climbed 18% to $23.38 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter dropped 7% to $4.61 billion or 55 cents a diluted share compared to $4.96 billion or 59 cents from a year earlier.

PepsiCo, Inc ((PEP)) jumped 2.9% or $2.60 to $91.76 after the food and beverage company reported revenue in the second-quarter ending on June 14 edged up 0.5% to $16.89 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter fell 2% to $1.98 billion or $1.29 a diluted share compared to $2.01 billion or $1.28 from a year earlier.

European Markets

European markets closed nearly flat but trading in the region was overshadowed by the ongoing tensions with Russia and the deepening conflict in Ukraine also kept the euro in the focus.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index nearly flat at 6,795.42 and in Frankfurt the DAX index edged up 0.1% or 12.69 to 9,747.02.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.2% or 8.75 to 4,378.27.

On the earnings front in the European Union, ABB net declined 18% to $1.2 billion and Daimler net plunged 52% to €2.2 billion but revenue climbed 6% to €32 billion.

The U.K. based Johnson Matthey said underlying profit declined 11% to £104 million and Renishaw profit soared 28% to £86 million.

STMicroelectronics net swung to profit of $38 million.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower in thin trading and the yen gained on persistent tensions in Europe and Middle East.

Domestic earnings and corporate news dominated trading sentiment and Asahi Glass plans to increase glass products prices for building by 20%.

Tokyo Electron declined after a ministry in China expressed opposition to the merger with Applied Materials.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 14.72 to 15,328.56 and the broader Topix index inched lower 0.88 to 1,272.39.

The yen closed at 101.39 against one U.S. dollar.

In Mumbai trading, the Sensex Index jumped 121.53 or 0.5% to close at 26,147.33 The CNX Nifty gained 27.90 to 7,795.75.

On the earnings front in India, ABB India net jumped 20%. Axis Bank net surged 18% and Yes Bank net climbed 10%

Software and business outsourcing company, KPIT Technologies tumbled after net declined 17% and Polaris Financial Technology net plummeted 29%.