Stocks close little changed as strong earnings offset Trump’s comments on trade

Dow and S&P hovering near breakeven point for the week at the open from CNBC.

Stocks closed little changed on Friday as strong quarterly results from some of the largest U.S. companies, including Microsoft and Honeywell, counterbalanced threats made by President Donald Trump to increase tariffs on China.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 2,801.83, with real estate and utilities lagging. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell just 6.38 points to 25,058.12 as losses in IBM offset gains in Microsoft. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1 percent to close at 7,820.20.

For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower while the Dow rose 0.1 percent to post its first three-week winning streak since January.

Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings Thursday after the close and issued strong revenue guidance. The company’s stock rose 1.8 percent and hit a record. Honeywell shares also rose 3.8 percent on stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue.

General Electric also reported a stronger-than-expected profit, but it still represented a 30 percent drop year over year. The stock pulled back 4.4 percent.

So far, about 16.4 percent of S&P 500 companies have released their latest quarterly results, with 83 percent of them topping analyst expectations, according to FactSet. Wall Street has high expectations for this earnings season, with analysts expecting earnings growth of 20 percent, FactSet said.

“There have been some individual surprises, but it’s still looking like we’re going to get year-over-year growth in the neighborhood of 20 percent,” said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research.

The reports come after Trump said he is ready to put tariffs on every Chinese good coming to the U.S. if necessary.

“I’m ready to go to 500,” the president told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a “Squawk Box” interview.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/20/us-markets-focus-on-earnings.html