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Stocks rise after solid economic data, earnings
NEW YORK, April 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Global stock markets rose Tuesday
following good economic data out of Germany and Britain and generally solid
US corporate earnings.
European bourses pushed higher, with Frankfurt adding 0.7 percent. Wall
Street’s gains were more modest, but strong results from Johnson & Johnson
lifted the Dow.
Earlier, Asian equities rose, on the eve of vital Chinese first-quarter
economic growth data.
The ZEW institute’s barometer on German investor confidence notched its
first positive reading for the indicator in just over a year, a period in
which threats to growth like Brexit, trade wars and weakness in emerging
markets have plagued investors.
The uptick “is based above all on hope that the global economic context
will develop less badly than previously supposed,” ZEW chief Achim Wambach
said in a statement.
“A contribution to the improved expectations will have come from the delay
to the date of Brexit” to October 31 at a European summit last week, he
added.
Britain itself also had good news, with employment reaching a record-high
level in the three-month period through February, shaking off stubborn
uncertainty surrounding the nation’s departure from the European Union,
official data showed.
“The UK job market remained encouragingly buoyant in February, with a
combination of rising employment and falling unemployment pushing pay up at
one of the fastest rates seen since the global financial crisis over 10 years
ago,” noted Christopher Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.
“However, forward-looking survey data suggest that demand for staff has
cooled, which will likely feed through to weaker jobs growth and easing pay
pressures in coming months.”
In the US, Dow member Johnson & Johnson climbed 1.1 percent after
reporting first-quarter profits of $2.10 per share, better than analyst
expectations. The health products company also confirmed its full-year sales
forecast.
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Bank of America eked out a 0.1 percent gain after reporting net income
rose 5.8 percent to $6.9 billion. However, revenues fell slightly as strength
in consumer banking offset weakness in markets.
Analysts have been predicting a drop in US corporate earnings overall, but
say stocks could gain if companies outperform the lowered bar.
– China in focus –
Investor focus turns now to China’s economic growth figures on Wednesday,
which come after a number of upbeat readings on the world’s number two
economy — including factory activity, inflation, new loans and trade — that
have given some cause for optimism.
“China has implemented a huge amount of stimulus into the economy more
recently to deal with the impact of trade wars and a general synchronized
slowdown,” said analyst Sam Buckingham at Thomas Miller Investment.
“We are starting to see the positive signs of this stimulus showing up in
some of the country’s soft-data series.
“If the hard data, such as GDP growth, does not follow this same path and
in fact undershoots expectations, we would expect volatility, i.e. fear, to
increase in financial markets.”
– Key figures around 2100 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 26,452.66 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 2,907.06 (close)
New York -Nasdaq: UP 0.3 percent at 8,000.23 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,469.92 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.7 percent at 12,101.32 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 5,528.67 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,463.36 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 22,221.66 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.1 percent at 30,129.87 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.4 percent at 3,253.60 (close)
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3048 from $1.3100 at 2100 GMT on Monday
Euro/pound: UP at 86.45 pence from 86.30 pence
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1281 from $1.1304
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 112.00 yen from 112.04 yen
Oil – Brent Crude: UP 54 cents at $71.72 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP 65 cents at $64.05 per barrel
BSS/AFP/HR/0920