While you were sleeping.. Continued selling of cyclical stocks, especially the best performers during the past 12 months, has dragged shares lower on Wall Street and in Europe overnight. The S&P 500 has recorded its biggest three-day drop in two months as investors bid down tech stocks and rotated into defensive names to protect against further declines. The FTSE 100 in London befell a similar fate, suffering its biggest one-day drop in a month. Corporate America prepares for the start of first-quarter earnings session this week, with results due from financials JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co , as well as retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond. The S&P 500 companies’ first-quarter earnings are projected to have increased just 1.2 per cent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed. This forecast is down sharply from the start of the year, when growth was estimated at 6.5 per cent. A lacklustre first-quarter earnings season amplified by a harsh winter could be the catalyst for a pullback; however investors are more optimistic for the second quarter. Investors therefore appear to be positioning for the next phase of the US economy’s recovery. The US central bank has recently signalled it’s on track to continue to rein in its bond purchases and even begun to jawbone the inevitable increase in interest rates.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 22:49:38 +0000
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