The Dow was down about a hundred in the morning, then up about a hundred in the afternoon to settle at close with a modest gain as did the S&P and Nasdaq. With unemployment benefits suddenly spiking and the day bringing mixed reports on earnings, investors backed away from the value stocks and back to growth with the big tech leaders pulling out front but, overall, it was close to a wash. Fortunately investors are now looking more at earnings than at macro data but as today’s expert states, “Earnings so far are better than expected. It’s a market that’s priced to its heights and there’s no room for mistakes.” 104 S&P companies have now reported with 88% beating estimates and the earnings forecast has been raised once again, today to an exorbitant 76.5%. Volume was below average at 8.2 billion. 

Thu  July 22, 2021  6:07 PM

Wall Street inches higher in pivot back to growth stocks

Stephen Culp

DJ: 34,798.00  +286.01       NAS: 14,631.95  +133.08        S&P: 4,358.69  +35.63     7/21

DJ: 34,823.35  +25.35         NAS: 14,684.60  +52.64          S&P: 4,367.48  +8.79       7/22

NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street edged higher on Thursday, as lackluster economic data and mixed corporate earnings sent investors back to growth stocks.  A pull-back in economically sensitive cyclicals kept the S&P 500's and the blue-chip Dow's gains muted, while small-caps  (.RUT)  underperformed their larger rivals.  But megacap market leaders such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O), Google-owner Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) rose ahead of their quarterly results next week, putting the tech-laden Nasdaq out front.  All three major U.S. stock indexes currently stand within 0.5% of their record closing highs  Growth stocks (.IGX), which outperformed throughout the health crisis, were back in favor, gaining 0.7%, while the value index (.IVX) lost altitude.

The number of U.S. workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits  (USJOB=ECI)  spiked unexpectedly to 419,000 last week, a two-month high, according to the Labor Department. read more  "The market got spooked over jobless claims, but investors remain focused on earnings instead of the macro data," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "And earnings so far are better than expected. It’s a market that’s priced to its heights and there’s no room for mistakes."

Market participants are closely watching labor market indicators for hints as to when the Federal Reserve, expected to convene next week for its two-day monetary policy meeting, will begin discussions about hiking key interest rates from near zero.  Benchmark Treasury yields eased after the bid at the largest-ever TIPS auction touched a record low, pressuring rate sensitive banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.35 points, or 0.07%, to 34,823.35, the S&P 500 gained 8.79 points, or 0.20%, to 4,367.48 and the Nasdaq Composite added 52.64 points, or 0.36%, to 14,684.60.  Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, tech (.SPLRCT) was shining brightest, gaining 0.7%. Financial stocks (.SPSY) suffered the largest percentage drop.

Second-quarter reporting season barreled ahead at full-throttle, with 104 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 88% have beaten consensus estimates, according to Refinitiv.  Analysts currently see aggregate year-on-year S&P earnings growth of 76.5% for the April to June period, a substantial increase from the 54% projected at the beginning of the quarter.

Drugmaker Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) gained 1.2% after hiking its full-year revenue guidance, while Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.N) surged 14.2% to an all-time high on the heels of its quarterly report. read more  Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, sending its stock down 3.5%, and American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) dipped 1.5% even after reporting a quarterly profit. read more  The S&P 1500 Airlines index (.SPCOMAIR) was off 1.6%.  Shares of Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.O) slid 5.0% after its current-quarter revenue forecast cast concerns as to whether chipmaker will be able to meet spiking demand in the face of a global semiconductor shortage.  The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) was last down over 1%.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.70-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.82-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 41 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 8.25 billion shares, compared with the 10.12 billion average over the last 20 trading days.