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Stock Market News for Apr 29, 2020

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U.S. stock markets ended lower on Tuesday as investors were waiting for several tech behemoths to declare earnings results later this week. Moreover, a number of mixed economic data were released yesterday. All three major stock indexes finished in the red.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined 0.1% to close at 24,101.55. Notably, 17 components of the 30-stock blue-chip index ended in green while 13 finished in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,607.73, tumbling 1.4% or 122.43 points due to the poor performance of large-cap tech stocks. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 decreased 0.5% to close at 2,863.39. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) and Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) plummeted 2% and 1.8%, respectively. However, eight out of eleven sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green while three ended in red.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 0.8% to close at 33.57. A total of 12.31 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 11.31 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.46-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.38-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Tech Behemoths to Report Earnings This Week

Tech giants such as Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) , Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) and Facebook Inc. will report earnings results of the last quarter this week. All these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

As of Apr 27, 158 S&P 500 members reported first-quarter 2020 earnings results. Total earnings of these companies are down 18.3% from the same period last year on 1.8% higher revenues. Of the total, 65.8% surpassed EPS estimates and 60.1% outpaced revenue estimates. Overall, first-quarter  earnings for the S&P 500 Index were projected to be down 15.3% year over year on 1.2% higher revenues. This is in sharp contrast to 4% earnings growth expected in early January.

Economic Data

The U.S. trade deficit increased to $64.2 billion in March from $59.9 billion in February. March's data was higher than the consensus estimate of $56.5 billion.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price jumped 4.2% nationally in February from 3.9% in January. The 10-City Composite index advanced 2.9% annually in February from 2.6% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite appreciated 3.5% in February, up from 3.1% in January.

The Conference Board reported that the U.S. consumer confidence plummeted to 86.9 in April from 118.8 in March. Initial index for March was 120. The consensus estimate for April was 90.

The Present Condition index, which gauges consumers’ views on current market conditions, plunged to 76.4 in April from 166.7 in the previous month. Consumers who said jobs are “plentiful” tanked to 20% from 43.3% while individuals who said jobs are “hard to get” jumped to 33.6% from 13.8%.

However, the Expectations index, which is a measure of consumers’ short-term (for the next six months) outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, grew to 93.8 in April from 86.8 in March.

Stocks That Made Headline

Ford Q1 Loss Wider Than Estimated, Q2 to be Worse

Ford Motor Co. (F - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted loss per share of $0.23, wider than the Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.10. Lower-than-anticipated automotive sales in North America and China resulted in the underperformance. (Read More)

C.H. Robinson Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates, Shares Down

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.’s (CHRW - Free Report) shares declined 2.7% in after-hours trading on Apr 28 following its first-quarter 2020 earnings release. (Read More)

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