NEW YORK, July 25 — Wall Street stocks were mixed early today following a round of generally positive earnings as markets looked ahead to a Federal Reserve interest rate decision.
Shares of General Electric, Sherwin-Williams and 3M all enjoyed strong gains following earnings reports, while General Motors and Kimberly-Clark declined.
About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent at 35,375.13.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent at 4,559.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.5 per cent to 14,133.82.
Besides the heavy earnings calendar, markets are also looking ahead to Wednesday’s Fed meeting.
The central bank is again expected to lift interest rates, but markets are looking for clues on whether to expect further rate hikes beyond that.
Today, the International Monetary Fund slightly upgraded its outlook for global growth this year on the back of resilient service sector activity in the first quarter, as well as a strong labor market.
The global growth forecast for this year was raised by 0.2 percentage points from the IMF’s prediction in April, putting the world economy on track for three per cent growth in both 2023 and 2024.
Among individual companies, aerospace and defence firm RTX slumped more than 15 per cent.
This came after its Pratt & Whitney division announced the need for inspections on delivered jets over the next nine to 12 months due to “a rare condition in powdered metal” used in engine manufacturing. — AFP
