Despite stellar earnings reports U.S. stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are in negative territory this morning on weak economic news.
Wall Street’s largest surviving investment bank, Goldman Sachs Group (GS) reported a 33% rise in earnings on strong trading results, improving markets and an upswing in advisory fees. Goldman reported a net profit of $4.93/share, blowing away analysts expectations of $3.49/share. Despite this outperformance, the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was down 1.4% in morning trading.
Diversified healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) reported a drop in second quarter earnings by 5% and earned $1.15/share beating Wall Street’s expectations of $1.11/share. The decline in earnings was caused by a decline in revenues both globally and domestically. On the positive side, consumer sales were strong indicating a bit of health in the economy. The news sent the Pharmaceutical HOLDRs (PPH) up nearly 0.5% in morning trading; JNJ is 24.4%.
Many investors are still waiting to see how well chip-maker Intel (INTC) and fast-food giant Yum! Brands (YUM) performed in the second quarter as they are both expected to release earnings today after the bell.
The Labor Department announced that wholesale prices rose in June with a 1.8% jump in the Producer Price Index, which tracks the price of goods before they hit the stores. This rally in wholesale prices was led by a rise in energy prices.
To further extend the string of good news, the Commerce Department stated that retail sales rose by 0.6% last month. This is the second straight month of increases and a good sign that the economy may be rebounding. The strength came from a price-driven surge at gasoline stations and a jump in automotive sales. Despite this uplifting news, the Retail HOLDRs (RTH) was down nearly 0.3% in morning trading.
Overall, all three major U.S. indexes are down in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down nearly 0.2%, the S&P 500 is down about 0.1% and the Nasdaq has given up nearly 0.3%.
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Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.