Major Wall Street indexes rose Wednesday as markets cheered on better-than-expected corporate earnings, fueling hopes that earnings season will be better-than-expected as investors await more economic data to get a clearer picture of the outlook for future interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 340 points, or 1%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 35.8 points, or 0.99%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 85 points, or 0.80%.
Nike shares rose 14% after beating Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. The sportswear company showed progress in its bid to liquidate through inventory, which was down from the prior quarter.
Meanwhile, FedEx gained more than 5% even as revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations on weakening demand. The package delivery giant unanimously beat earnings-per-share estimates and engaged in a series of cost-cutting plans.
European
European stocks rallied on Wednesday, supported by healthcare and luxury consumer stocks as investors headed into the holiday season amid optimistic expectations.
The Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4% during trading.
The index closed lower in the previous session but made up for some of its earlier losses as markets stabilized after an initial shock following the Bank of Japan’s sudden policy adjustment regarding bond yield control.
The Stoxx 600 index received big support on Wednesday from stocks of companies in the consumer accessories sector, which represent goods and services that consumers consider unnecessary, but buy them when their income is sufficient for that, after sales Nike’s quarterly reports have boosted the performance of sportswear companies like Adidas and Puma.
The healthcare sector grew by 0.5%, supported by a 4.4% jump from Dutch health technology company Philips, which announced that independent tests of its respiratory devices included in a large global recall showed positive results.
Japan
Japanese government bond yields rose and the Nikkei index fell on Wednesday after Japan’s central bank surprised markets on Tuesday by changing its policy to control the yield curve.
The benchmark 10-year government bond yield rose seven basis points to 0.480%, its highest since July 2015 and close to 0.50%, the revised upper bound of the Bank of Japan’s policy range.
The Nikkei Index closed down 0.68% at 26,387.72, its lowest closing level since Oct. 13, after volatile trading that saw positive performance for a short time.
The main index lost 3% on the back of the Bank of Japan’s decision, which aims to mitigate some of the costs of long-term monetary stimulus.
The broader Topix index fell 0.64% to 1893.32.
The sub-index for automakers fell 2.36%, surpassing the losses of the other 32 industrial sub-indexes, after the yen rose on the back of the central bank’s move.
As for the banking sector, it rose 2.6 percent, and was the best performer among all sectors, amid expectations that higher interest rates would lead to increased profitability. The insurance sector also grew by 0.08%.
(Reuters)
