Stocks were mostly higher from the outset following a number of positive quarterly reports, most notably the beat and raise from Coca-Cola (KO). However, they cemented a winning session after reports indicated that U.S. negotiators plan on heading to China by next week to resume face-to-face trade talks.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., existing home sales fell 1.7% in June to a disappointing 5.27M pace. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index dropped 14 points to -12 in July. In trade news, CNBC and Bloomberg each independently reported that U.S. officials will travel to China for trade talks sometime between this Friday and Thursday, August 1.
Additionally, the IMF announced that its global growth forecast is 3.2% in 2019, picking up to 3.5% in 2020, both of which are 0.1 percentage point lower than in the April WEO projections. The IMF stated: "Global growth remains subdued. Since the April World Economic Outlook report, the United States further increased tariffs on certain Chinese imports and China retaliated by raising tariffs on a subset of US imports. Additional escalation was averted following the June G20 summit. Global technology supply chains were threatened by the prospect of US sanctions, Brexit-related uncertainty continued, and rising geopolitical tensions roiled energy prices."
TOP NEWS: Three Dow members reported earnings this morning and one was the leader on the upside and another finished the day as the laggard on the blue chip index. Coca-Cola shares jumped over 6% following the better than expected results and guidance raise from the beverage giant, while Travelers (TRV) fell 1.6% following the insurance company's report. United Technologies (UTX), the other member of the reporting trio, rose 1.5% following an earnings beat and guidance raise.
Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) slipped 2.4% following a media report saying Apple (AAPL) is in advanced talks to acquire Intel's (INTC) smartphone modem chip business for about $1B.
Meanwhile, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) announced that it was initiating a workforce reduction of roughly 7% of its corporate staff, including the elimination of the COO role. In connection with the announcement, the company repeated that it expects fiscal 2019 earnings per share to be at the low end of its previously stated guidance range.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Realogy (RLGY), which rose 19.3% after it launched TurnKey in collaboration with Amazon (AMZN). Also higher were AutoNation (AN) and Biogen (BIIB), which gained a respective 10.8% and 4.9% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Intra-Cellular (ITCI), which dropped 31.6% after the FDA cancelled an advisory committee meeting that had been planned to discuss a new drug application made by the company. Also lower were Whirlpool (WHR) and Tile Shop (TTS), which declined 3.9% and 22.2%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 177.29, or 0.65%, to 27,349.19, the Nasdaq gained 47.27, or 0.58%, to 8,251.40, and the S&P 500 advanced 20.44, or 0.68%, to 3,005.47.
Coca-Cola
+3.08 (+6.01%)
Travelers
-2.49 (-1.66%)
UTX
+
Qualcomm
-1.83 (-2.41%)
Apple
+1.64 (+0.79%)
Intel
+0.4 (+0.78%)
Bed Bath & Beyond
-0.19 (-2.03%)
Changed to HOUS
+1.01 (+19.54%)
Amazon.com
+8.51 (+0.43%)
AutoNation
+4.6 (+10.95%)
Biogen
+11.42 (+4.91%)
Intra-Cellular
-3.81 (-31.78%)
Whirlpool
-5.855 (-3.95%)
Tile Shop
-0.88 (-22.22%)