Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for Apr 24, 2023
U.S. stock markets closed marginally higher on Friday following mixed earnings results for first-quarter 2023. Investors remained concerned about a near-term recession. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. However, for the week, these indexes finished in negative zone.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.1% to close at 33,808.96. The blue-chip index terminated a three-day losing streak. Notably, 15 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory and 15 in positive zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 12,072.46, gaining 0.1% due to strong performance of large-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 advanced 0.1% to end at 4,133.52, terminating a two-day losing streak.
Six out of 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in positive territory while five in red. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) increased 1.1% while the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) dropped 0.9%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.3% to 16.77. A total of 9.9 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.5 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.24-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.1-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
Mixed Earnings Results
Freight Railroad behemoth CSX Corp. CSX reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2023 results, wherein both earnings and revenues outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly earnings of $0.48 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.42 and improved 23.1% year over year.
Total revenues of $3,706 million outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,599.1 million. The top line increased 9% year over year on the back of solid volume growth in merchandise and coal, higher fuel surcharge, and pricing gains. Consequently, shares of CSX advanced 3.3%.
Property and casualty insurer W.R. Berkley Corp. WRB reported first-quarter 2023 operating income of $1.00 per share missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.19. The bottom line declined 9.1% year over year.
Operating revenues came in at $2.9 billion, up 12.5% year over year, on the back of higher net premiums earned as well as higher net investment income. The top line beat the consensus estimate by 2.4%. The stock price of W.R. Berkley plummeted 9.2%.
Non-ferrous mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX recorded net income (attributable to common stock) of $663 million or $0.46 per share in first-quarter 2023, down from $1,527 million or $1.04 in the year-ago quarter. Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.52, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.47.
Revenues declined roughly 18% year over year to $5,389 million. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,447.2 million. The results were hurt by lower copper prices. The company also witnessed lower copper and gold sales in the reported quarter. As a result, shares of Freeport-McMoRan slid 4.1%.
All three stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a disappointing one for Wall Street. The three major stock indexes - the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%, 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. The blue-chip index ended a four-week winning streak. Fear of a recession later this year dented market participants’ confidence on risky assets like equities.
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