Tech fell mildly but the Dow rose mildly as the market continues taking a breath after the recent furious rallies and investors try to get a handle on what they think of bond yields rising and inflation concerns, stoked further today by Q4 labor costs increasing by two percent.  But Q4 earnings continue swimmingly with now almost half of S&P companies reporting and 80% of these beating forecasts.  It was enough to drive general Q4 expectations up again, today to almost 15 percent, up from just yesterday when it was 13.7% and two days ago when it was 13.2 percent.  And not to forget that a month ago it was just 12 percent.  Volume again was quite strong at 7.8 billion shares traded. 

thu  FEBRUARY 1, 2018 /5:49 pM

Wall St. shares forfeit early gains as bond yields rise

Stephen Culp

DJ: 26,186.71  +37.32       NAS: 7,385.86  -25.62        S&P:  2,821.98  -1.83        2/1

(Reuters) - Wall Street stocks gave up early gains on Thursday as bond yields rose and technology stocks retreated ahead of a host of high-profile earnings.  It has been a rocky week for Wall Street with mostly robust earnings met by rising bond yields as world central banks back away from easy monetary policy. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index is on track for its first weekly decline in five.

The Federal Reserve held the fed funds target rate steady on Wednesday but indicated it was concerned about inflation rising.  U.S. Treasury yields continued to climb after economic indicators seemed to confirm the Fed’s inflation views.  Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits were below expectations, indicating a tight labor market, while U.S. Institute of Supply Management data showed prices paid by U.S. factories hitting a near 7-year high, and fourth-quarter labor costs increased by 2.0 percent, adding to inflation concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 37.32 points, or 0.14 percent, to 26,186.71, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.83 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,821.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXICdropped 25.62 points, or 0.35 percent, to 7,385.86.  Banks, which benefit from higher interest rates, led the S&P 500 financials .SPSY to a 1.0 percent gain, with Goldman Sachs helping to push the Dow into positive territory.  Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, four posted gains. 

Other notable stock movers included eBay (EBAY.O), up 13.8 percent after its earnings report, and its announcement that it would move away from PayPal (PYPL.O) as its main payments partner. PayPal shares slid 8.1 percent.  UPS (UPS.N) was down 6.1 percent after it reported fourth-quarter profit that was hurt by higher holiday season shipping costs. The company was the second-biggest percentage loser on the S&P 500. 

Analysts see fourth-quarter S&P 500 company earnings growth of 14.9 percent, up from 12 percent expected on January 1. So far, of 227 companies that have reported, 79.7 percent have come in above Street estimates.   “Earnings are going very well, it demonstrates that the dramatic cut in corporate taxes are helping every one in terms of profitability,” said Stephen Massocca, Managing Director at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.

High-profile tech companies reported after the closing bell.  Amazon.com (AMZN.O) was up over 6.0 percent in after hours trading after results.  Alphabet (GOOGL.O) was down nearly 3.0 percent in extended trade after its quarterly earnings.  Apple (AAPL.O) down about 1.0 percent in after hours trading after posting results.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.24-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 66 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.80 billion shares, above the 7.23 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.