The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher on Thursday (August 18) following Cisco. Systems revealed better-than-expected earnings. and helped support tech stocks to rebound. The market also responded to strong US economic data. This included a higher-than-expected manufacturing index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,999.04, up 18.72, or +0.06%, the S&P500 closed at 4,283.74, up 9.70, or +0.23%, and the Nasdaq closed at 12,965.34, up 27.22, or +0.21%.
Cisco Systems, one of the 30 stocks used in the Dow, jumped 5.81% following the company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 revenue of $13.1 billion. That’s higher than analysts’ estimates of $127.9 billion.
Cisco Systems’ fiscal 2022 revenue is up 3.4 percent. The company also expects fiscal 2023 revenue to grow by 4% to 6%, above analysts’ forecasts of an increase. up only 2.3%
Cisco’s strong performance Systems also boosted stocks among other tech companies. Advance Micro Devices (AMD) was up 2.21 percent, Alphabet was up 0.52 percent, Intel was up 1.17 percent, and IBM was up 0.93 percent.
Energy stocks soar After WTI oil prices rebounded above $90 last night. Chevron was up 1.75 percent, Exxon Mobil was up 2.41 percent, ConocoPhillips was up 3.47 percent, and Halliburton was up 5.78 percent.
Shares of U.S. retail giant Kohls Corp tumbled 7.72 percent following it cut its fiscal 2022 sales and profit forecasts, saying middle-income customers were hurt by inflation. Consequently, sales declined in the apparel and footwear categories. Additionally, Kohls said, consumers have reduced in-store purchases and reduced spending limits. by turning to buy cheap products
Kohls expects net sales in fiscal 2022 to decline 5-6 percent year-on-year. It was previously expected to be flat, or up 1%, and earnings per share were expected to be $2.80-3.20, down from $6.45-6.85.
Markets are still evaluating the minutes of the July 26-27 meeting of the Federal Reserve, which said the Federal Reserve’s board was committed to raising interest rates as high as necessary. until inflation can be controlled. but at the same time The Fed signaled that it might slow down its rate hikes. Realizing that the US economy is now at risk of facing a downtrend.
Investors expect The Fed will raise interest rates by 0.50% at its monetary policy meeting in September. After the Fed signaled to slow the rate hike in the minutes of the July meeting. The CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates that investors are now weighing 61.5% that the Fed will raise interest rates 0.50% to 2.75-3.0% at its meeting on Sept. 20-21 and weight only 38.5%. The Fed will raise interest rates by 0.75%.
The New York Stock Exchange was driven by bright US economic data. The Philadelphia Fed released its manufacturing index in the Mid-Atlantic region. It rose to +6.2 in August, the highest level since April. And higher than analysts’ expectations at -5.0 from -12.3 in July, with the index hovering above 0, indicating that Manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region is expanding.
The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 2,000 to 250,000 last week. and below the 265,000 analyst forecast.
