US stocks were mixed, 3M fell 13%, dragged down the Dow

Release time：May 13, 2019 From：admin

Sina US stock news Beijing time on the 26th morning, US stocks closed mixed on Thursday. The Nasdaq closed slightly higher. 3M (190.72, -28.36, -12.95%) poor earnings report dragged down the Dow. Investors are weighing corporate earnings and US economic data.

At 16:00 on April 25th (04:00 on April 26th, Beijing time), the Dow fell 134.97 points, or 0.51%, to 26462.08 points; the S&P 500 index fell 1.08 points, or 0.04%, to 2926.17 Point; the Nasdaq rose 16.67 points, or 0.21%, to 8180.68 points.

Dow component Microsoft (MSFT) shares closed up 3.3%. The company announced healthy quarterly results on Wednesday night, and the stock market value exceeded $1 trillion on Thursday morning.

Another Dow component, diversified industrial giant 3M (MMM) shares fell 13%, putting the Dow under pressure. The company has significantly lowered its 2019 performance guidelines and said it will lay off 2,000 people.

However, the overall performance of the technology sector is strong. On Thursday morning, the Nasdaq hit a record high of 8151.84 points, setting a new record in the session.

Before Thursday, the Dow's highest record closing record was 26,828.39 points created on October 3 last year, with the highest intraday record of 26,951.81 points. The highest closing record for the S&P 500 index was 2,931.68 points on April 23, with an intraday record of 2,940.91 points. The highest closing price of the Nasdaq was 8120.82 points created on April 23, and the highest intraday record was 8139.55 points created on April 24.

Corporate earnings are still the focus of the market. More than 170 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings. Among these companies, 78% of earnings exceeded expectations.

Michael Shaoul, Chairman and CEO of Marketfield Asset Management, said: "The earnings season is close to half, and the earnings report so far has been good enough for the bulls to continue to maintain their positions. There are few real worrying examples on the market. The worst case scenario is that investors have expectations that exceed normal levels in some cases, especially for the semiconductor industry."

So far this week, US companies' overall performance guidance on economic conditions and business environment has helped the stock market to record a generally stable rise. But the growing signs of economic weakness from Europe to Australia have cast a shadow over the market outlook.

The economic data released by Germany and South Korea on Thursday unexpectedly deteriorated, triggering concerns about the global economic downturn.

As a major exporter of the world, South Korea has the latest evidence that economic expansion has stagnated and began to shrink. The gross domestic product (GDP) of this Asian country contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter, the worst performance in more than 10 years.

Prior to this, Australia announced on Wednesday that its first quarter consumer price index (CPI) was flat, adding to the market's expectations for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates.

The weakening signs of economic growth have prompted the central banks, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of Canada and the Bank of Japan, to adopt a more moderate policy stance, which in turn pushed the dollar to a two-year high. At some point, the rise in the US dollar exchange rate will hurt the profits of multinational companies.

In terms of international trade relations, trade negotiations between the United States and Japan will be the focus of this week.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will arrive in Washington on Thursday to discuss trade relations with the United States to avoid economic disputes. It is widely believed that the two countries will discuss the issue of exchange rate manipulation, and may cause differences and become a worrying issue. On Friday, US President Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that a trade agreement with Japan must include a clause aimed at preventing exchange rate manipulation. This is done to prevent a country from maintaining a weak currency in order to stimulate exports.

The US government is seeking to narrow the trade deficit between the United States and Japan and use car tariff threats - and they have used similar strategies for Germany.

According to economic data, the US Department of Labor released data on Thursday that the number of initial jobless claims rose by 37,000 to 230,000 in the week ending April 20, reaching the highest expectations of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The four-week average with lower volatility increased to 206,000.

Prior to this, the first US jobless claims data has fallen for five consecutive weeks, the longest consecutive decline since 2016; the data shows that although the labor market may have cooled down, it remains strong. According to the Fed's latest Beige Book, employers in several regions and industries face tensions in employee turnover and difficulty in recruiting workers.

According to another data, the US Department of Commerce data showed that the initial value of durable goods orders increased by 2.7% in March, the largest increase in 7 months, and significantly exceeded the expected 0.7%.

The market is more concerned about the US first-quarter GDP data to be released tomorrow. When the economic slowdown is rampant, if the US GDP still exceeds market expectations, it may significantly boost market sentiment.