U.S. markets and stock ETFs were paring earlier losses after a weak outlook from technology bellwether Cisco Systems fueled concerns over the global economy.
On Thursday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was down 0.1%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) was flat and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) was 0.1% higher.
Cisco shares experienced their worst pullback in about three months after the tech company projected its first quarterly revenue decline in over two years and profit below expectations as the increased global economic uncertainties kept clients away from purchasing more routers and switches, Reuters reports.
Investors were already weighing on a potential friction between the U.S. and China as the talk agricultural purchases.
“Investors need to see something that they’re comfortable with on the trade front,” said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, told the Wall Street Journal. Until then, “It’s a ‘hold your breath’ type of market.”
Walmart raise annual outlook
Meanwhile, Walmart raised its annual outlook and posted better-than-expected earnings, comparable sales and e-commerce growth for the third quarter, assuaging some fears over the U.S. economy.
“We have on display this front-end of the economy, the U.S. consumer, that remains resilient and remains in a healthy place in front of a very key holiday spending timeframe for the economy,” Margaret Reid, senior portfolio manager at The Private Bank at Union Bank, told Reuters.
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But it was compared to “the back-end of the economy that still seems to be plagued and weighed by U.S.-China trade and global economic and political volatility,” she added.
U.S. markets remain bolstered by Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy, upbeat third-quarter earnings and signs the economy may be bottoming. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the chances of the U.S. economy facing a dramatic bust is small. Looking ahead, investors will be watching U.S. retail sales data on Friday to gauge the economy.
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