Stocks wobble as investors gauge earnings, economy | National News
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A currency trader walks near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 22, 2021. Asian shares were higher on Thursday after a broad advance on Wall Street led by technology companies and banks.
Currency traders walk near screens showing the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), left, and the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 22, 2021. Asian shares were higher on Thursday after a broad advance on Wall Street led by technology companies and banks.
Currency traders talk near screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 22, 2021. Asian shares were higher on Thursday after a broad advance on Wall Street led by technology companies and banks.
A currency trader works at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 22, 2021. Asian shares were higher on Thursday after a broad advance on Wall Street led by technology companies and banks.
FILE – In this March 23, 2021 file photo, pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange in New York’s Financial District. Stocks are opening modestly lower on Wall Street, Thursday, April 22, led by drops in banks and technology companies.
Stocks wobbled between small gains and losses Thursday as investors continue to focus on company earnings reports and the economic recovery.
The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% as of 11:38 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.1%, to 34,088 and the Nasdaq was up 0.3%. The S&P 500 closed higher Wednesday, ending a two-day slide, but it’s still down for the week.
Earnings are a key focus for investors as the bulk of companies in the S&P 500 spend the next few weeks reporting their financial results. Wall Street is hoping to get a better sense of just how much companies in various sectors are benefiting from the economic recovery. They are also listening for clues on prospects for the recovery to continue as vaccine distribution rolls on and people try to return to some semblance of normal.
AT&T rose 4.4% after reporting results that beat expectations, helped by higher wireless phone charges as well as the success of its streaming service HBOMax. Equifax also rose after reporting strong results.
Union Pacific fell 1.7% after the railroad operator reported a 9% drop in profit.
The broader market has had a choppy week of ups and downs as Wall Street digests earnings and tries to gauge how much and how quickly the U.S. and global economy will recover through 2021.
