Oil Rises on Saudi Output, Iran Sanctions
August 7, 2018US STOCKS-Futures lifted by higher oil prices, earnings
August 7, 2018- New York (New York, Usa)
- -August 6 2018, 16:45
- -AFP
Wall Street finished higher on Monday, supported by the results of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate of billionaire Warren Buffett, and by a jump in the social network Facebook.
According to the final results at closing, the leading index of the New York market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 0.16% to 25,502.18 points.
The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, appreciated by 0.61%, to 7,859.68 points.
The broad S & P 500 index gained 0.35% to 2,850.40 points.
“The market continues to focus on corporate earnings,” said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital.
The Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, the world’s sixth market capitalization, advanced significantly Monday (+ 2.91%) after the publication of its accounts.
The results of Warren Buffett’s group are the latest example of a quarterly earnings season that once again positively surprised analysts.
Eight out of ten companies having disclosed their accounts have indeed exceeded market estimates. The growth rate of earnings per share for all companies that have already published their results has meanwhile peaked at an average of 24%, which is 4 points higher than expected, according to Factset’s statistics.
“With such numbers it’s hard to look for the little beast,” said Bill Lynch of Hinsdale Associates.
On the strength of these results, the Dow Jones and S & P 500 indexes finished higher in the last five weeks.
Lynch also believes that the lack of news about the trade war between Washington and Beijing has helped market participants remain optimistic.
For its part, the sharp rise in Facebook (+ 4.45% to 185.69 dollars) also supported the advance of Wall Street while the social network has approached major US banks to ask them to share data of their customers in order to offer new services on Messenger, according to a source at AFP.
Among the values of the day, PepsiCo took 0.93% to 117.38 dollars.
The group announced Monday the departure of its emblematic boss Indra Nooyi, one of the few women to run a US multinational, at a time when producers of soft drinks and snacks are faced with changes in consumer tastes more demanding on quality food.
The Sotheby’s auction group fell 5.63% to $ 49.93 following the release of its quarterly results.
The bond market was without direction: around 20:45 GMT, the yield on the US ten-year debt fell back to 2.944%, against 2.949% Friday at the close, and the 30-year rose to 3.091%, against 3.089% Friday.