Trading on Wall Street was slightly mixed early Friday as companies continued to report their latest earnings and the market ended another week of gains.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% before the bell, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down just 0.1%.
CVS Health fell about 11% in premarket trading after the retail pharmacy chain and health care company announced the resignation of CEO Karen Lynch. Lynch will be replaced by David Joyner, who will try to steer the medical giant through a deteriorating environment of rising medical costs.
CVS lowered its earnings forecast for the third time in August, as major pharmacy chains face online and other competition and try to navigate a dramatically changed landscape.
Tesla shares come after the U.S. government’s Traffic Safety Administration announced it would once again investigate the electric car maker’s “fully self-driving” system following reports of crashes in poor visibility conditions, this time including the fatality of a pedestrian. fell less than 1%. .
Netflix stock rallied over time after the video streaming company late Thursday reported third-quarter revenue and profits that beat Wall Street expectations, despite a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth. Shares rose 6.5% in outside trading. Netflix expects revenue to increase 15% this quarter, matching strong sales growth in the July-September period.
More positive economic data released by the U.S. this week raises the possibility that the economy can fully escape the worst inflation in generations without falling into the recession that many investors saw as almost inevitable. Expectations were high. And now, with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to keep the economy strong, optimists are hopeful that stocks could rise even further.
But critics warn that the stock is too expensive, given that the company’s shares are rising faster than company profits.
Global markets rose mainly after the People’s Bank of China announced plans to support stock markets through share buybacks by companies and large shareholders.
China’s economy slowed further in the last quarter, according to data released on Friday. This raised hopes that the government would step up its latest stimulus package.
The world’s second-largest economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.6% in the July-September period, down slightly from 4.7% in the previous quarter. The weak real estate market continues to weigh on demand, with growth averaging 4.8% so far this year, below the official target of around 5%.
Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China announced guidelines for state-run banks to provide loans to companies and major shareholders for stock buybacks, as part of efforts to stabilize China’s stock market, which has slumped in recent years.
story continues
The People’s Bank of China said in a statement that the loans can only be made by 21 designated financial institutions, and the interest rate will be capped at 2.25%, underscoring plans to strictly monitor efforts to support the market.
Shanghai markets rose on the news, with the composite index rising 2.9% to 3,261.56. A small market index in the southern city of Shenzhen rose 4.1%.
Shanghai’s benchmark share price has risen 9% in the past three months, but rose sharply last month following the announcement of new economic slowdown measures, but investors were left disappointed by the lack of major government spending initiatives. showed a decline.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3.6% to 20,804.11.
Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.2% to $38,981.75, while Seoul’s Kospi fell 0.6% to $2,593.82. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% to 8,283.20.
Taiwan’s Tyex rose 1.9%, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.4%. India’s Sensex rose 0.3%.
As of midday in European markets, Germany’s DAX was up 0.3%. In Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 0.7%, while in London, Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.2%.
In other trading early Friday, benchmark U.S. crude oil was back 3 cents at $70.06 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard crude, fell 10 cents to $74.34 per barrel.
The dollar fell from 150.21 yen to 150.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.0852 from $1.0827.
