NEW YORK, May 2 — Wall Street stocks were little changed early today following mixed earnings as investors looked ahead to key US jobs data.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down a hair at 26,426.90.
The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent to 2,926.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 per cent at 8,068.13.
Investors were still digesting yesterday’s remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which sent shares lower in the final hours of trading after he described low inflation as transitory, implying that he saw no need for a cut in interest rates.
“The stock market sold off Wednesday in the wake of Mr Powell’s remarks, because it was due for a pullback and because Mr. Powell didn’t give it anything new to cheer; hence, his remarks created an excuse to take some money off the table,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
Markets are looking ahead to the all-important government jobs report for April out tomorrow. Analysts expect the economy added another 200,000 jobs last month while the unemployment held steady at 3.8 per cent.
In earnings news, sneaker and sports apparel company Under Armour shot up 8.2 per cent after lifting its profit forecasts, while cereal maker Kellogg dropped 4.2 per cent as it reported steep decline in quarterly profits.
Tesla Motors rose 3.8 per cent as it announced it would raise as much as US$2.3 billion (RM9.5 billion) in debt and equity to boost its cash position. The news had been telegraphed by Chief Executive Elon Musk on an April 24 conference call that sent shares lower. — AFP
