The U.S. stock market is dynamic and every day you will see tons of new things. Today, Apple (AAPL, Financial) shares shined and investors are very happy about it. But investors are following Apple's shares closely, as they think the tech giant`s big moment might come to an end soon.
Facebook (FB, Financial) was also hot today, and this stock rose a little bit as well, and the Federal Reserve was hinting at changing its interest rate policy next month, so investors are following closely what this agency will do in the future.
Mixed Data
The U.S. stock market showed mixed economic data today amid disappointing earning reports coming from ConocoPhillips (COP, Financial) and Ford (FORD, Financial). In fact, this Thursday has been full of small losses. The trade gap has become wider in the U.S., reaching $63.3 billion in June. More people were applying for unemployment benefits this past week. Retail inventories moved higher, while wholesale remained unchanged. The Dow futures were off just 21 points or 0.1%, while S&P futures experienced a decline just shy of two points. The Nasdaq-100 futures were just 5.75 points.
Following the Trend
Today the stock market followed a trend that began Wednesday, when stocks closed lower as the Fed hinted at a possible September rate increase. The Fed announced this in its now famous policy statement after stating a decrease in the economy`s near-term risk is a reality. Though investors were thinking about the Fed language today, the Fed`s statements were not able to lift sentiment among them.Â
Gloomy Earnings
Alphabet (GOOGL, Financial) and Amazon (AMZN, Financial) will release their quarterly earnings just after the closing bells. Brent crude futures are traded today at $43.23 a barrel, after falling 0.46%, and US-WIT crude futures rose just 0.05% today to trade at $41.90 per barrel. The EIA will release its report on the important natural gas stocks at 10:30 a.m. EST. In addition, the markets in Europe were lower today and the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.82%, while the STOXX-Europe 600 Index also fell 0.47% and the DAX 30 index dropped 0.09%.
Indexes Trading Lower
The British FTSE index traded lower today by 0.21% and the CAC 40 Index dropped 0.23% as well. In Germany, unemployment fell by 7,000. In Asia, the Nikkei fell 1.13% and the Hang Seng index dropped 0.20%. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.08% today and the BSE Sensex rose 0.66%.Â
Apple Stock Shining
Apple reported earnings of $7.8 billion last quarter and this figure is above the estimates of analysts on Wall Street. Apple has been a big drag on the U.S. stock market this year as tons of investors think that the Cupertino-based firm`s massive growth rates have ended. Apple is the first firm in the tech sector to report this week. Facebook already reported, but Google and Amazon will report later this week. In addition, Facebook shares rose with profits and sales, surpassing analysts` expectations today. Coca-Cola shares dropped 3.3% to $43.40 today.
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Disclosure: I do not own any shares or any stocks mentioned in this article.
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