Wall Street opens in the red

The main indices on Wall Street started Tuesday’s session in negative territory, following a similarly cautious trend set by global markets.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.37% at 33,952 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.28% to 4,151 and the Nasdaq fell 0.19% to 13,888.

While the market as a whole was on the back foot, one of the early winners was computing firm IBM (NYSE:IBM), which jumped 3.6% to US$138 after reporting a surprise revenue gain, breaking four consecutive quarters of decline.

7:50am: Wall Street set to start lower

Wall Street is set to follow Monday’s dips with another opening fall on Tuesday morning.

All eyes will be on the tech sector, with Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) releasing results after the market closes.

Sophie Griffiths at Oanda said: “US futures are pointing to a softer start, extending losses from the previous session. Yet even with this pullback, US stocks remain near record highs. The CBOE volatility index, often referred to as the fear gauge, is ticking higher again, suggesting risk-off sentiment is creeping up.

“Attention is firmly on US earnings season, with investors looking for confirmation of the private sector recovery. Coca-Cola impressed in the previous session, but the big question is how tech will perform? Netflix kicks off big-tech earnings after the US close today.”

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said expectations for Netflix were high, given it had a captive audience with people stuck at home during lockdown.

She said: “Expectations are 6 million new subscribers, $7.1bn in net revenue and earnings per share up to $2.98. Moreover, the company is expected to have reached the breakeven level on its cash flow thanks to lower production costs due to the pandemic.

“Netflix recently announced it doesn’t need to raise external cash for day-to-day operations and it considers stock buybacks moving forward, for the first time in a decade. Yet, the arrival of spring and business reopening are major risks for Netflix revenues, combined with higher subscription fees and tougher competitive environment in on-demand video streaming industry.”

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open 125 points or 0.36% lower at 33,952 while the S&P 500 is set for a 0.39% decline and the Nasdaq Composite poised to slip 0.34%.

Four things to watch for on Tuesday:

• The results diary will include numbers from consumer goods group Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG), tobacco group Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) and arms maker Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT)
• Meanwhile, shares in pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) will be in focus after the firm beat its profit and sales forecasts for the first quarter while also raising its dividend
• Cannabis stocks may also attract attention after the US House of Representatives voted in favour of a bill that would protect banks that do business with companies in states that have legalised the drug for medicinal or recreational use from federal enforcement.
• On the macro front, mortgage application data may interest some for clarity on the American housing market

Story by ProactiveInvestors