by Lewis Krauskopf, Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended in mixed order on Tuesday, with only the S&P-500 marginally in the green, as gains by big tech stocks were dampened by investor disappointment over Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs as earnings season is picking up speed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.03%, or 10.55 points, to 33,976.63 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 3.55 points, or 0.09%, to 4,154.87 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 4.31 points (0.04%) to 12,153.41 points.

This first wave of earnings from S&P-500 companies, launched by several major US banks amid fears of a banking sector crisis, comes as investors expect gloomy data that could point to a economic trough.

Goldman Sachs fell 1.7% after posting quarterly profit down 19%.

“We are seeing the calm before the storm, as far as results are concerned,” commented Brad McMillan, chief investment officer of Commonwealth Financial Network.

“The market is trying to figure out if there are any small upsides here and there. That should play out with the results over the next two weeks,” he said.

Seen as an indicator of the level of fear on Wall Street, the CBOE Volatility Index declined during the session to its lowest since January 2022.

S&P-500 companies are expected to report quarterly earnings down 4.8% year on year, according to IBES data from Refinitiv released Friday.

The acceleration of the earnings season is taking place ahead of a meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) which should lead to a further rate hike of 25 basis points in early May.

As markets try to price in the U.S. central bank’s policy guideline, St. Louis Fed Chairman James Bullard said in an interview with Reuters that the bullish campaign must continue. rates, citing recent economic data showing the persistence of inflation.

For his part, the head of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta, Raphael Bostic, said he anticipates only one additional rate hike.

Among the major sectors of the S&P-500, technology ended up 0.4%, driven by a jump from Nvidia after HSBC raised its recommendation for the semiconductor maker to “buy”.

The health sector meanwhile declined by 0.7%, weighed down by Johnson & Johnson’s 2.8% decline following the pharmaceutical group’s warning of rising costs caused by inflation.

( Jean Terzian)

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