Nasdaq posts 7-day win streak ahead of key earnings due this week
Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed roughly flat on Monday, as investors looked ahead to a raft of corporate earnings reports slated for later this week.
Investors seemed reluctant to initiate large positions in equities, ahead of earnings reports due later this week from a slew of companies including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY).
Investors are expected to monitor second-quarter earnings closely for any indication that markets could be overheating, after both the Dow and S&P 500 ended last week in record territory.
Also adding to the subdued start to the week for US stocks was a report showing a dip in manufacturing activity in June.
The Empire State manufacturing index dropped from 19.8 to 9.8 in July, missing expectations for a more modest decline to 15.
The weaker-than-expected economic data comes amid growing investor doubts whether the Federal Reserve will keep to its plan to raise rate at least once more this year, after last week’s batch of economic data failed to show any improvement in the pace of inflation.
In corporate news, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) launched a new mainframe system, called IBM Z, capable of running more than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day, as the tech giant seeks to make further forays into the financial cybersecurity market.
The news comes a day ahead of IBM’s second-quarter due Tuesday, after US markets close. Investors are keen to receive to an update on the tech giant’s transition into attractive business areas such as cloud, artificial intelligence and blockchain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 21,631. The S&P 500 closed 0.01% lower while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6314.46, up 0.03%.
‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) up 0.8%, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) up 0.7 % and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) up 0.5%
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) down 1%, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) down 0.8% and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) down 0.7%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.
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