NEW YORK, July 16 — Wall Street stocks edged down from records early today following mixed banking earnings and worrisome manufacturing data contrasted with strong US retail sales.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by assets, were slightly negative despite reporting record quarterly earnings as investors focused on the bank’s lowered forecast for net interest income in anticipation of Federal Reserve moves to cut interest rates.
The Fed also loomed over a surprisingly strong US retail sales report, which jumped 0.4 per cent in June to US$519.9 billion (RM2.14 trillion), more than twice the gain economists had expected.
“The key takeaway from the report is that it was a solid report overall and will diminish the prospect of a 50-basis points cut at the July 30-31 FOMC meeting,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
However, the US manufacturing sector sunk into recession in June after two consecutive quarters of declines amid President Donald Trump’s bitter trade wars and the slowdown in China and other trading partners.
About 35 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down a hair from yesterday’s record close at 27,357.51.
The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 3,012.60, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also declined 0.1 per cent to 8,253.77.
Among other companies reporting results, Goldman Sachs jumped 2.4 per cent, while Johnson & Johnson lost 1.2 per cent. — AFP
