Reflecting on Earnings, Waiting on the Fed

Positive earnings results from a number of blue-chip companies should help sentiment as the market waits for a number of major economic releases a little later today. The March New Home Sales numbers are expected to edge up a little from the February level, while the Conference Board’s April Consumer Confidence is expected to be around the same level as in March.

But all eyes will be on the Fed, which starts its 2-day meeting today. The official post-meeting statement from FOMC at noon Wednesday is not expected to have any surprises, though the spotlight will be on Ben Bernanke, who holds a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The market will be keenly looking for any clues to any forthcoming QE-type actions that Bernanke may be contemplating following the recent run of softer labor market readings.

On the earnings front, we got positive earnings surprises this morning from Dow components AT&T (T - Analyst Report), 3M Company (MMM - Analyst Report) and United Technology (UTX - Analyst Report). AT&T beat earnings expectations on in-line revenue, though the cellular giant’s subscriber additions were a little softer than expected. 3M Company also beat earnings expectations and raised guidance, though its quarterly revenue matched expectations.

Baker Hughes (BHI - Analyst Report) also beat revenue and EPS expectations. After the close on Monday, Texas Instruments (TXN - Analyst Report) posted better-than-expected results and guided higher, while Netflix (NFLX - Analyst Report) missed expectations. We have Apple (AAPL - Analyst Report) reporting results after the close today.