Analyzing April 16: All about Oil, Earnings, and Indicators
Earnings Beat Estimate: Citigroup and Philip Morris Both Increase (Part 1 of 3)
April 16 was about oil, earnings, and indicators
The three things that investors watched closely on April 16 were:
oil price rebound
earnings reports of companies like Citigroup (C), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Philip Morris International (PM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and BlackRock (BLK), among others.
Key economic indicator releases including the initial jobless claims in the US (SPY) (IVV) as well as Germany (EWG) and France’s (EWQ) inflation rate.
Crude rising on Yemen tensions and inventory slowdown
The commodity market saw another big jump in the price of crude oil.
Crude has been rising since mid-March due to conflicts in Yemen and the inventory growth slowdown. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude settled at $56.71 per barrel on April 16. It was up $0.32 on news that a clannish group of former al-Qaeda militants seized a major southern oil terminal in Yemen. The terminal is a major hub of oil export from the region. It has an average capacity of 120,000–140,000 bpd (barrels per day). Meanwhile, US inventories also slowed. This added to the surge.
Stock market applauds Citigroup and Philip Morris
April 16 saw the US stock market, as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), drop 0.03% despite earnings exceeding estimates.
Citigroup (C) reported a $1.52 EPS (earnings per share) against Wall Street’s expectations of $1.39 per share. Philip Morris also exceeded EPS expectations of $1.02. It reported an EPS of $1.16 for its fiscal quarter ending March 2015. Citigroup was up 1.52%, while Philip Morris jumped 8.74% on April 16. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s (TSM) earnings were in line with market expectations of $0.48. Goldman Sachs (GS) pleasantly surprised investors by reporting EPS of $5.94 against an expected $4.18. BlackRock (BLK) also surprised investors. It reported EPS of $4.89 against the estimated $4.51.
Other US firms that are due to release their earnings today, April 17, are General Electric (GE), Honeywell International (HON), and Reynolds American (RAI)—among others. The consensus EPS forecast for these firms stands at $0.30, $1.39, and $0.79, respectively.
Now, let’s take a look at some key indicator releases that also drove the markets on April 16.
Browse this series on Market Realist:
