U.S. Stocks Retain Upward Bias, January Retail Sales Fall

Barry Adams
15 Feb, 2024
New York City

Stocks in early trading retained an upward bias, and investors digested a fresh batch of earnings and reviewed economic updates. 

Benchmark indexes are set to advance for the second day in a row after falling sharply in Tuesday's trading following hotter-than-expected inflation in January. 

Investors reacted to the latest earnings from Cisco Systems, Tripadvisor, Twilio, Stellantis, and Shake Shack. 

 

Retail and Food Services Sales Declined In January

On the economic front, retail and food services sales declined in January from December, the Census Bureau announced Thursday. 

Preliminary retail and food services sales, adjusted for calendar and seasonal factors but not for prices, decreased 0.8% from the previous month but were up 0.6% from a year ago. 

December sales were revised lower to 0.4% from the previous estimate of 0.6%. 

Retail trade sales were down 1.1% from December 2023 and 0.2% below last year. 

Nonstore retailers were up 6.4% from last year, while food services and drinking places were up 6.3% from January 2023. 

 

Jobless Claims Edged Slightly Lower 

Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims for the week ending on February 10 declined by 8,000 to 212,000 from the previous week's revised level. 

The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 218,000 to 220,000. The 4-week moving average was 218,500, an increase of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average.

 

Japan Economy Dips Into a Recession

Japan's economy slipped into a recession in the fourth quarter after GDP shrank by 0.1% from the previous quarter, when the economy contracted by 0.3%. 

The weakness of government spending and capital expenditure overshadowed the net positive contribution from international trade. 

For the full year 2023, Japan's economy expanded 1.9% after rising 1.0% in 2022. 

Japan's GDP slipped to the fourth largest in the world, trailing the U.S., China, and Germany. 

China's GDP surpassed Japan's in 2010, and India's economy is forecast to surpass the economies of Japan and Germany by as early as 2028. 

 

U.S. indexes and yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.4% to 4,971.38, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 15,723.63. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes declined to 4.55%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.22%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.40%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.54 to $76.10 a barrel, and natural gas prices declined 6 cents to $1.62 a thermal unit, a low last seen in September 2020.

Gold increased by $5.53 to $1,997.93 an ounce after the U.S. dollar gained in international trading.

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.55.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Cisco Systems declined 4.1% to $48.20 after the company reported a decline in sales and earnings in the fiscal second quarter and also issued a weaker-than-expected current quarter sales and earnings outlook. 

Stellantis NV, the parent of Fiat and Chrysler, increased 5.1% to $25.64 after the automobile company announced its Є3 billion stock repurchase plan and hiked its annual dividend by 16% to Є1.55 per share. 

The company plans to increase shareholder return by 26% from a year ago to Є7.7 billion in 2024. 

Tripadvisor gained 4.9% to $26.56 after the travel information provider reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Twilio dropped 11.7% to $64.20 after the email delivery service provider estimated weaker-than-expected revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter. 

Apple declined 0.5% to $183.13 after Berkshire Hathaway trimmed several holdings in the fourth quarter, including Apple and HP, according to regulatory filings released on Wednesday.