The U.S. stock market traded in the red Thursday morning, fueled by disappointing results from Cisco Systems (CSCO, Financial). Further, investors are looking at a seven-year high of 3.1% in the interest rate.
Shares of Walmart Inc. (WMT, Financial) fell on Thursday after the company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $1.33 on revenue of $136.3 billion, which was 4.1% higher than the comparable period. The company beat revenue expectations by $1.39 billion, but fell 4 cents short of earnings estimates.
Further, consolidated operating income reached $4.5 billion, a decline of 28%. The company generated $28.3 billion in operating cash flow and returned $14.4 billion to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.
Gainers
- Kroger Co. (KR, Financial)
- Valero Energy Corp. (VLO, Financial)
- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC, Financial)
- Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM, Financial)
Losers
- Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO, Financial)
- EQT Corp. (EQT, Financial)
- CBS Corp. (CBS, Financial)
- Kohl's Corp. (KSS, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock market indexes traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.70%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.98%, Germany's Dax jumped 0.91% and Spain's Ibex 35 climbed 1.04%.
In Asia, markets closed in the red. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.53%, but China´s Shanghai Composite fell 0.48%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.54% and India’s BSE Sensex slid 0.67%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
