Wall Street Indexes Hovered Near Recent Highs

Barry Adams
15 Oct, 2024
New York City

Wall Street indexes hovered near recent highs as investors pored over the latest earnings results. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.1%, and crude oil plunged 5% after supply-demand imbalances overshadowed Iran-Israel tensions. 

Investors have been bidding up stocks over the last five weeks following a raft of positive economic reports and continued optimism about artificial intelligence. 

Nvidia Corp. declined 2.1% to $135.15 after closing at an all-time high in Monday's trading amid optimism about the company's products. 

Moreover, investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve will be able to cool inflation while avoiding the economy dipping into a recession. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.1% to 5,862.05, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 18,530.62, and the Russell 2000 index advanced 0.5% to 2,247.01.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.97%, 10-year Treasury notes inched down to 4.08%, and 30-year Treasury bonds inched higher to 4.38%.

WTI crude oil decreased $3.06 to $70.75 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 1 cent to $2.48 a thermal unit.

Gold fell by $1.18 to $2,648.62 an ounce, and silver decreased by $0.08 to $31.14.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher to 103.17.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Goldman Sachs increased 2.6% to $536.55 after the investment banker reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Revenue in the third quarter increased 7% to $12.7 billion from $11.8 billion, net income advanced 45% to $2.99 billion from $2.06 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose 54% to $8.40 from $5.47 a year ago. 

Bank of America advanced 2.7% to $43.06 after the financial service provider reported better-than-expected earnings. 

Revenue in the third quarter increased to $25.3 billion from $25.2 billion, net income eased to $6.9 billion from $7.8 billion, and diluted earnings per share fell to 81 cents from 90 cents a year ago. 

Provision for credit losses was flat at $1.5 billion from the previous quarter and higher than $1.2 billion a year ago. 

Citigroup decreased 1.5% to $65.01 after the global bank reported third quarter results that fell short of investor expectations. 

Revenue increased 1% to $20.3 billion from $20.1 billion, net income fell 9% to $3.2 billion from $3.5 billion, and diluted earnings per share fell to $1.51 from $1.63 a year ago. 

Coty dropped 5.9% to $8.63 after the beauty company reported weaker-than-estimated revenue growth in its latest quarter. 

The company said comparable sales in the fiscal first quarter ending in September increased between 4% and 5%, lower than its previous estimate of 6%. 

The beauty company said it will release its full results on November 6. 

UnitedHealth Group declined 9.1% to $549.99 after the health insurer reported higher-than-expected medical costs. 

Revenue in the third quarter increased to $100.8 billion from $92.4 billion, net income attributable to shareholders advanced to $6.1 billion from $5.8 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose to $7.15 from $6.56 a year ago. 

Medical costs jumped to $66 billion from $59.6 billion, and total operating costs rose to $92.1 billion from $83.8 billion a year ago. 

The company lowered its full-year net income per share outlook to between $15.50 and $15.75.