41 minutes ago
Home sales rose more than expected in March
A house with a “Sold” sign from a real estate company in North Patchogue, New York.
Steve Pfost | News day | Getty Images
New home sales accelerated in March at a faster pace than expected as mortgage rates fell during the month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
Single-family home sales totaled 693,000 for the month, considerably higher than February’s downwardly revised 637,000 and better than the Dow Jones estimate of 669,000. With February’s lower total, March’s 8.8% gain was well above forecasts of 1.1%.
After falling in January, the median sales price rose again to $430,700, its highest level since August 2023.
Interest rates on 30-year mortgages fell slightly in March to below 7%, but have since rebounded, according to Bankrate.
—Jeff Cox
An hour ago
PMIs for April are lower than expected
Manufacturing and services activity hit multi-month lows in April, indicating a potential slowdown in U.S. economic growth.
The U.S. S&P Global Flash composite PMIs showed a reading of 49.9 for the manufacturing sector, down from 51.9 in February and the lowest reading in four months. On the services side, the index stood at 50.9, compared to 51 the previous month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for 52 values for both measures.
Diffusion indices measure the percentage of companies reporting expansion, so anything below 50 indicates contraction.
Measures of new orders fell for the first time in six months. “Businesses responded by reducing employment for the first time in almost four years, with business confidence also falling to its lowest level since last November,” the report said.
—Jeff Cox
An hour ago
Spotify jumps 13% after profit rise
Shares of Spotify jumped 13% on Tuesday after the streaming music company beat earnings and earnings expectations for the first quarter.
See the table…
Spotify shares rose sharply after reporting first-quarter results.
Spotify published 0.97 euros of profit per share on 3.64 billion euros of turnover. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected 0.65 euros per share and 3.61 billion euros in turnover.
Spotify’s gross margin of 27.6% is up from 25.2% in the same quarter last year.
—Jesse Book
An hour ago
US crude falls to lowest level since March, falls below 50-day moving average
An aerial view shows an operating jack at an oil well in Gray Horse, Oklahoma, September 29, 2023.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
US crude oil hit a session low of $80.89 per barrel on Tuesday, its lowest level since late March.
West Texas Intermediate futures for June also fell below the 50-day moving average of $81.22 per barrel for the first time since early February.
WTI last traded at $81.51 a barrel, down 39 cents, while June Brent futures were down 36 cents at $86.64 a barrel.
Traders pushed prices down after a rise earlier this month amid fears that Iran and Israel were on the brink of war. Those fears largely dissipated as the bitter foes signaled they are not interested in a broader war after trading retaliatory strikes this month.
The market was also not concerned about the impending oil sanctions against Iran. The House of Representatives passed legislation this weekend that would target ports, ships and refineries that accept Iranian oil. The Senate could consider the bill this week.
-Spencer Kimball
An hour ago
Stocks open higher
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
New York stock market
Stocks opened higher on Tuesday as Wall Street focused on a new slate of upcoming tech profits.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% shortly after the opening bell, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 124 points, or 0.3%.
—Brian Evans
2 hours ago
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket
Here are some of the names moving before the bell:
- Novartis — Shares rose 4.7% after the Swiss pharmaceutical maker beat expectations for its first quarter and raised its forecast for the full year.
- General Motors — The automaker rose nearly 5% after reporting $2.62 per share on first-quarter revenue of $43.01 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected $2.15 per share on revenue of $41.92 billion.
- Spotify — The stock jumped 8% after the music streaming company reported first-quarter revenue of $3.64 billion, beating the LSEG consensus estimate of $3.61 billion.
To see more stocks move in the premarket, read the full story here.
— Michelle Fox
3 hours ago
UPS up on higher earnings per share
United Parcel Service (UPS) trucks are parked at a UPS customer center on April 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
United Parcel Service rose 0.4% in premarket trading Tuesday after earnings per share beat Wall Street expectations.
UPS earned $1.43 per share in the first quarter excluding items, well above the consensus forecast of $1.29 from analysts surveyed by LSEG. On the other hand, revenues amounted to 21.7 billion dollars, below the 21.86 billion expected by analysts.
The Atlanta-based company also reiterated its full-year guidance for revenue, operating margins and capital expenditures.
-Alex Harring
7 hours ago
European stocks open higher as FTSE hits record high
European stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with the benchmark Stoxx 600 index up 0.5% at 8:40 a.m. London time.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to an all-time intraday high, while France’s CAC 40 was up 0.2% and Germany’s DAX 0.7%.
12 hours ago
Chinese bubble tea company Chabaidao falls 30% in Hong Kong trading debut
The signage of ChaBaiDao is seen at its store in Shanghai, China, 10 August 2023.
Aly’s song | Reuters
Shares of Chinese bubble tea chain Chabaidao, officially listed as Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial, opened 10% lower in early trading in its Hong Kong debut, before plunging more than 30%.
It is currently trading at HK$12.32, well below its IPO offer price of HK$17.50.
This IPO is the largest listing in Hong Kong so far this year. The company said it raked in net proceeds of HK$2.59 billion ($330.5 million) from its IPO, before listing fees.
Chabaidao offered 90% of its 147.7 million shares in a global offering, while the remaining 10% was offered in a public offering in Hong Kong.
However, the public offering was only 0.5 times subscribed, leading the company to reallocate the remaining shares to the overall offering, which was 1.11 times subscribed.
-Lim Hui Jie
14 hours ago
Yen hits new 34-year low at 154.85 early Tuesday
The Japanese yen weakened to a 34-year low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, hitting 154.85 against the greenback.
This is the weakest level the currency has seen since the mid-1990s, although it strengthened slightly to 154.74 as of 9:18 a.m. Tokyo time.
The currency will be monitored by the Bank of Japan at its meeting on Friday, although the central bank has not announced a level at which it would intervene.
15 hours ago
Australia’s business activity grows fastest in 24 months, says S&P Global
Australian business activity grew at its fastest pace in 24 months in April, according to flash figures from S&P Global.
The country’s composite purchasing managers’ index stood at 53.6, up from 53.3 in March.
The manufacturing PMI rose to 49.9 from 47.3, just below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction, while the services PMI edged down to 54.2 from 54.4.
-Lim Hui Jie
16 hours ago
Stocks Make Biggest Moves After Hours
The Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Mill in Riverdale on February 17, 2023.
E. Jason Wambsgans | Chicago Tribune | Tribune Press Service | Getty Images
Check out the businesses making headlines after hours.
- Nucor — Shares fell 6.3% after the steelmaker’s first-quarter results missed estimates and it issued a lackluster outlook for the second quarter. First-quarter earnings per share of $3.46 fell below the FactSet consensus estimate of $3.67 earnings per share. Revenue of $8.14 billion was lower than the $8.26 billion estimate. Nucor expects second-quarter earnings to decline, citing “a decline in steel mill segment profits, primarily due to a decline in average selling prices partially offset by a slight increase in volumes.”
- Cleveland-Cliffs — The steel producer lost nearly 3%. Cleveland-Cliffs’ first-quarter results fell short of analysts’ expectations, with adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share on revenue of $5.2 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG estimate earnings per share of 22 cents and revenue of $5.35 billion.
- Cadence Design Systems — Shares fell 8.9% after the software company issued poor second-quarter guidance. Cadence Design Systems forecast second-quarter earnings of $1.20 to $1.24 per share, lower than the $1.43 per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue forecasts of between $1.03 billion and $1.05 billion also missed a FactSet consensus estimate of $1.11 billion.
Read the full list here.
-Sarah Min
16 hours ago
March new home sales data set to be released Tuesday
New home sales are expected to have increased 1.2% in March, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones. That would be a jump from a 0.3% decline the previous month.
The data is expected to be released Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET.
-Sarah Min
17 hours ago
Opening of stock futures little changed
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
New York stock market