Market update: Summer inertia and a mixed bag of corporate results hinder the march higher in stocks

Source: Henderson Global Investors

Economic data, corporate results and a last minute Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article painting a dovish picture for the Federal Reserve (thus increasing risk appetite) helped US stocks close slightly higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 was heading for a flat finish before the release of the WSJ article (+0.3%), while the Nasdaq registered its biggest daily gain in two weeks (+0.7%) helped by solid results from Biogen, Facebook and Qualcomm. In the latest economic releases, June durable goods orders rose 4.2%, much stronger than the 1.3% forecast. 

Asian markets seem to have been unaffected by the positive end to the US trading session, focusing on corporate earnings instead, as most bourses slipped in overnight trading. Japan saw the most declines (Nikkei 225  3.0%). The country’s highest inflation reading since late 2008 (core inflation rose 0.4% year-on-year), a sign that government’s stimulus strategy is on track, simply bolstered the yen and hurt exporters. European markets are grappling to maintain momentum this morning, but have been helped by a few solid corporate results. At the time of writing both the FTSE Eurofirst 300 and the FTSE 100 were up 0.1%.