Movers: General Motors, Kohl's, Micron Technology, PulteGroup

Barry Adams
01 Jul, 2022
New York City

U.S. stocks struggled to move higher on the first day of the month and reacted to corporate news. 

U.S. manufacturing activities declined in June but activities stalled in Europe and Asia as supply chain constraints and elevated input costs dominated. 

Benchmark indexes traded sideways on the first day of the third quarter after logging the worst decline in the first-half in decades. 

The S&P 500 declined 16% in the second quarter ending on Thursday and fell 20.6% in the first-half. The second quarter decline was the worst since the first quarter 2020.

The Nasdaq dropped 22.4% in the second quarter and its worst record since 2008 and plunged 29.4% in the first-half. 

The stock market declined in the quarter and the first-half touched every sector except commodities and energy.  

In Friday's trading, the S&P 500 index increased 0.2% to 3,794.11 and the Nasdaq Composite index traded flat at 11,019.93. 

The popular averages traded near the flat line and digested the latest corporate news and economic data from the U.S., Asia and Europe. 

General Motors gained 0.9% to $32.04 after the automaker said the company sold 582,401 vehicles in the second quarter, 15% fewer than a year ago. 

The company said supply chain disruptions have held up 95,000 vehicles lacking computer chips and certain components but vehicles are expected to be sold to dealers by the end of 2022.  

The automaker guided net income in the June quarter to be in the range of between $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion and adjusted earnings to be in the range of between $2.3 billion and $2.6 billion. 

Micro Technology declined 2.7% to $53.78 after the chipmaker said revenues in the fiscal 2022 third quarter ending on June 2  rose to $8.6 billion from $7.6 billion a year ago. 

Net income in the quarter rose to $2.6 billion or $2.34 a share from $2.3 billion or $2.0 a share. 

The chipmaker's fourth quarter guidance was substantially weaker than anticipated by analysts. 

The company expects fourth quarter revenues of $7.2 billion with a band of $400 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.52 with a 20 cents band. 

Kohl's Corporation plunged 17.3% to $29.57 after the department store retailer ended its talks to sell its business and cited deteriorating retail environment in the last six months. 

The retailer also said second quarter sales are likely to fall in high-single digits compared to the previous estimate of a decline in low-single digits and said "the company is seeing a softening in consumer spending."

The home builders advanced after 30-year fixed mortgage rates declined for the third day in a row to 5.50% after peaking at 5.9% on Jun 28, according to data available on Mortgage Daily News. 

Pulte Group gained 6.8% to $42.34, Lennar Corp advanced 5.1% to $74.14, and DR Horton added 5.3% to $69.71.