Wall Street searches for clear direction as investors assess earnings

[Wall Street Station]
Nirian

Wall Street looks for clear direction as markets are mixed on Tuesday as investors digested a slew of key earnings reports and await the inflation report due on Friday.

Leading the way lower has been the tech focused Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COMP:IND]) as it was down 0.3%. At the same time, the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500]) was near even on the session, and the blue-chip Dow (DJI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DJI]) pushed up by 0.5%.

Looking out at the S&P sectors and investors will have noticed that four segments are trading in positive territory with Consumer Discretionary leading the way. Going in the opposite direction has been Materials as the sector is he worst performing area on the session so far.

U.S. Treasury yields shifted lower as the longer-end U.S. 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US10Y]) dipped down by 3 basis points to 3.95% and the shorter-end U.S. 2-year Treasury yield (US2Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US2Y]) was lower by 2 basis points to 3.44%.

On the earnings front, 3M Company (MMM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MMM]) advanced 3.4% after lifting its full-year profit outlook, while Coca-Cola (KO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KO]) climbed 3.9% following stronger-than-expected organic sales in its Q3 results. Netflix (NFLX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NFLX]) is slated to release its quarterly earnings after today’s closing bell.

Meanwhile, as the U.S. government shutdown enters its 21st day, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4505574-the-senate-needs-to-work-this-out-hasett-says-on-shutdown#hasComeFromMpArticle] that he expects it to conclude “sometime this week.”

Despite the ongoing shutdown, the September retail inflation report remains scheduled for October 24.

"Friday's delayed CPI report will be one of the few economic data points for the markets and the Federal Reserve to digest before its late October meeting and interest rate decision. While Friday's CPI may take on greater importance due to the government shutdown-driven data drought, we still expect the Fed to proceed with another interest rate cut at the late October meeting. We believe the Fed is still focused on the employment side of the equation, and it does not want to fall behind on that front," Rick Gardner, chief investment officer, RGA Investments said.

As for stocks that are on the move, General Motors Company (GM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GM]) has climbed up over 13% while shares of Newmont Corporation (NEM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NEM]) have fallen more than 8%.

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