Wednesday, 15 July 2015 21:44
NEW YORK: US stocks were mixed early Wednesday following solid Bank of America earnings and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicating an interest rate hike was still seen in 2015.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,045.19, down 8.39 points (0.05 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 rose a scant 0.21 (0.01 percent) to 2,109.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 13.86 (0.27 percent) at 5,118.75.
Bank of America jumped 2.7 percent after second-quarter earnings more than doubled to $ 5.3 billion on a big drop in legal costs.
In testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen said the Fed still planned to raise rates in 2015 due to the improving economy, though she warned that continued turbulence from Greece and China poses risks to the US growth picture.
Briefing.com Patrick O’Hare said markets were having to absorb a “mountain of data and information” on a news-packed day.
Besides Yellen’s testimony in Congress, the calendar included an expected vote on austerity measures in the Greek parliament and a slew of largely positive economic statistics out of China.
Biopharmaceutical company Receptos, which specializes in treatments of immune and metabolic diseases, surged 10.4 percent on news it will be acquired by Celgene for $ 7.2 billion. Celgene rose 9.7 percent.
Delta Air Lines fell 1.7 percent after projecting the closely watched passenger-revenue-per-available-seat mile would fall 4.5-6.5 percent in the third quarter. It reported earnings in the second quarter rose 85 percent to $ 1.5 billion.
Other carriers dropped, including American Airlines (-2.9 percent), Southwest Airlines (-1.2 percent) and United Continental (-2.1 percent).
Yum Brands, which owns fast-food restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut, tumbled 3.3 percent on a 29.6 percent fall in second-quarter earnings to $ 235 million. The company said it was confident of a strong second half of 2015 in China.
Freight rail company CSX added 2.1 percent after reporting a 4.5 percent rise in second-quarter income to $ 553 million.
Wearables company Fitbit rose for the third straight session, this time by 4.7 percent. The company has been praised in a number of Wall Street reports this week, including by Deutsche Bank, which initiated coverage with a “buy” recommendation.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury held steady at 2.40 percent, while the 30-year dropped to 3.18 percent from 3.20 percent Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
