Major US stock indexes finished trading in positive territory

Major US stock indexes rose slightly, as investors were cautious in anticipation of the publication of a large block of significant corporate reports this week.

About 30% of the S & P 500 companies are due to release their quarterly results this week, including Coca-Cola (KO), United Technologies (UTX) and Visa (V) on Tuesday; Boeing (BA), Caterpillar (CAT) and Facebook (FB) on Wednesday; Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG) and Intel (INTC) on Thursday; McDonald's (MCD) on Friday. Investors will analyze the results of companies to assess the impact of the trade war on corporate results, to find out if the results are weak enough to convince the Fed to take decisive action this year. To date, more than 15% of the companies in the S & P 500 index have already published their quarterly results. According to FactSet, of these companies, 78.5% showed higher-than-expected earnings for the last reporting period and 67% reported quarterly earnings that exceeded estimates. After a good start to the corporate reporting season, analysts polled by Refinitiv now predict that the profits of the S & P 500 companies will show an increase of about 1% y / y, whereas they had previously expected a slight decline.

Investors also continue to monitor the trade negotiations between the United States and China. As the South China Morning Post reported today, US trade representatives are likely to visit China next week to meet with Chinese officials for the first time after the G20.

The focus of market participants was also a new portion of Twitter-criticism from US President Trump to the Fed because of “too strong and fast” rate hikes and stricter policies, in which he also advised the Fed to “reduce more” interest rates at the upcoming meeting 30 July 31. In the meantime, expectations of a deeper rate cut have weakened somewhat. According to the FedWatch CME Group tool, market expectations for a rate cut of 25 basis points at the end of this month are 77.5%. Meanwhile, the likelihood of a more significant decrease Nia - by 50 basis points - is estimated at only 22.5% (against 29.2% a week ago).

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in positive territory (16 of 30). Verizon Communications Inc. was an outsider. (VZ; -1.97%). The growth leader was Intel Corporation (INTC; + 2.30%).

Most sectors of the S & P recorded an increase. The sector of conglomerates grew the most (+ 0.7%). The largest decline was shown by the utility sector (-0.5%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 27,172.65 +18.45 +0.07%

S & P 500 2,985.02 +8.41 +0.28%

Nasdaq 100 8,204.14 +57.65 +0.71%