Global equity markets eased and the dollar fell on Thursday after mixed results from blue-chip companies on both sides of the Atlantic and renewed concerns about the slowing pace of growth in China weighed on investor sentiment.
Reuters reported that United Statesstocks rebounded off earlier weakness as gains in technology companies, especially Facebook, lifted the Nasdaq and pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to trade slightly above break-even.
The dollar fell against the euro and the yen as investors saw positive economic news in Europe, but a rise in US business spending plans for a third straight month in June was not enough to drive the US currency.
In Europe, profit warnings by German heavyweights BASF and Siemens hit the country’s DAX index and cast a shadow over the broader European market, which was seen vulnerable to further declines.
Results from General Motors and Dow Chemical Company were generally positive, but with the possible exception of big US banks, corporate America’s earnings for the most part have failed to ignite strong Wall Street gains.
Facebook Incorporated was an exception, notching its biggest single-day percentage gain ever with a 27.6 per cent jump to $33.83 a day after the online social network company reported a big jump in mobile advertising revenue.
Facebook was by far the most active Nasdaq-listed share.
Of the 233 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted results through early Thursday, 67.8 per cent beat analyst expectations, slightly better than the past four quarters and above the 63 per cent average since 1994, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S said.
“To the extent that earnings continue to be strong, that helps to take off some of the perception that we’ve gone too far, too fast,” said Mitch Rubin, chief investment officer at RiverPark Advisors in New York, where he helps oversee $2.1bn.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.69 points, or 0.00 per cent, at 15,541.55. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 1.46 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 1,687.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 19.16 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 3,598.76.