Except for a very brief dip in the red mid morning, the Dow was straight up black today ending the session 110 points up with much robust economic data coupled with healthy Q1 reports.  March retail sales blew past expectations and filings for unemployment dropped to a 50 year low, plus optimism over China made for a very good day.  If 110 points seems meager for such good news, it’s because investors always have to have something to worry about and that something today is that Q1 is going so well that there is actually concern out there that these first great reports may have been intentionally front-loaded and there is bad news to come.  But now with 77 S&P companies reporting and 78% beating forecasts, the oddsmakers have now again reduced the Q1 contraction, today to 1.7 percent from 2.5 last week.  At 6.8 billion, volume was right in line with the 4-week average. 

thu  APRIL 18, 2019 / 5:16 pm 

Wall Street closes slightly higher, industrials lead

Stephen Culp

DJ:  26,559.54  +110.00       NAS:  7,998.06  +1.98       S&P:  2,905.03  +4.58       4/18

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Industrials led the S&P 500 and the Dow moderately higher on Thursday after robust U.S. economic data and some healthy corporate earnings reports.  All three major U.S. stock indexes closed in positive territory heading into the three-day weekend.  For the holiday-shortened week, the S&P snapped its three-week winning streak, while the Dow and the Nasdaq posted weekly gains.

The bellwether S&P 500 has hovered within a percent of its all-time high for the last five sessions.  “It’s been kind of an anemic market over the last few weeks,” said Matthew Keator, managing partner in the Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts. “There’s concern that the majority of the returns in 2019 were front-end loaded.”

U.S. retail sales in March blew past analyst expectations, rising at their fastest monthly pace in 1-1/2 years, according to the Commerce Department.  In a separate report, data from the Labor Department showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped last week to a 50-year low.  Industrial stocks boosted the markets following upbeat quarterly results and remarks from China’s commerce ministry spokesman that progress has been made in U.S.-China trade talks.

With reporting season in full swing, January-March S&P 500 profits are expected to have dropped 1.7% year-on-year, which would mark the first decline in quarterly earnings since 2016.  Of the 77 S&P 500 companies that have released results thus far, 77.9% have beaten consensus, compared with the 65% average beat rate going back to 1994.  “Expectations were so low going into the quarter, there’s been some nice surprises,” Keator added.

Growing demand for aircraft parts drove Honeywell International Inc’s earnings beat. The company raised its full-year forecast, and its stock rose 3.8%.  Fewer catastrophe losses helped Travelers Companies Inc report higher-than-expected profit. The property & casualty insurer’s stock gained 2.3%.  Union Pacific Corp shares advanced 4.4% after beating earnings estimates as price hikes helped the railroad offset the impact of severe weather and midwest floods.  Among earnings misses, Schlumberger NV reported a 20% drop in first-quarter profit. Its shares slipped 3.9%.  American Express Co’s quarterly revenue fell short of analyst estimates, but the stock ended the session up 1.7%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 110.00 points, or 0.42%, to 26,559.54, the S&P 500 gained 4.58 points, or 0.16%, to 2,905.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.98 points, or 0.02%, to 7,998.06.  Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, seven closed in the black.  Industrials were the biggest percentage gainers, up 1.1%.

Online scrapbook company Pinterest Inc jumped 28.4% in its debut.  Meanwhile, Lyft Inc dropped 1.9%. The ride-hailing service’s stock is now trading 19% below its $72 offer price.

U.S. stock markets will be closed on Good Friday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.07-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.05-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 35 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 77 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.79 billion shares, in line with the average over the last 20 trading days.