(Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, continuing to rebound from a selloff this week, after April retail sales data came in below forecasts.
The Census Bureau reported that retail sales were flat in April compared to the prior month. March’s blowout numbers, driven in part by government stimulus, were revised higher to a 10.7% rise. Excluding volatile auto and fuel costs, retail sales were down 0.8% in April from the month before.
Shortly after the open, the
rose 183 points, or 0.5%. The
was up 0.8% and the
was 1.1% higher. The Dow rallied 433 points, or 1.3%, on Thursday.
In Asia, Tokyo’s
climbed 2.3% while Hong Kong’s
rose 1.1%. The
advanced 1.8%, and in Singapore the
fell 2.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.7%, while the
in Paris was 1.1% higher and Frankfurt’s
ticked up 0.9%.
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Wall Street is continuing the rebound from a selloff this week caused in part by inflation fears. The
declined near 4% from Monday as investors fretted over inflation, after the Consumer Price Index for April rose 0.8% to match the biggest monthly increase since 2009.
But there was a turnaround in U.S. equities on Thursday as the market shrugged off concerns, with Asian and European stocks following suit on Friday. Singaporean stocks fell after the city-state imposed strict new rules to contain the spread of Covid-19 cases.
Friday’s retail sales figures helped relieve some fears that stimulus would have a lasting effect on spending and inflation. Treasury yields ticked lower after the report as well, and the 10-year yield was down two basis points, or hundredths of a percentage point, to 1.64%.
“We’re operating in a through-the-looking-glass world where seemingly bad news is taken positively by the markets on the basis it means central banks won’t pull back on the stimulus front or put up rates,” said Russ Mould, an analyst at AJ Bell.
On Thursday, Federal Reserve officials reassured markets that the central bank wouldn’t raise rates soon. “Expectations for future rate hikes moved down marginally from where they were the previous day,” noted Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.
Accompanying the gains in stocks was a decline in some commodity prices. Copper futures were down 1% and iron ore futures slipped as well, though oil prices ticked higher. Mining giants added drag to European indexes as shares in
BHP,
and
fell.
(ticker: DIS) stock fell 4.5% despite reporting a profit of 79 cents a share, beating forecasts for 27 cents a share, on sales of $15.61 billion, below expectations for $15.8 billion. Disney+ disappointed.
(ABNB) stock fell 1.2% after reporting a loss of $1.95 a share, missing forecasts for a loss of $1.05, on sales of $887 million, above expectations for $717 million.
(DASH) stock rose 10.9% after reporting a loss of 34 cents a share, missing forecasts for a 26 cent loss a share, on sales of $1 billion, above expectations for $993 million.
(SNOW) stock gained 4% after getting upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
(SAVE) stock gained 3.7% after getting upgraded to Peer Perform from Underperform at Wolfe Research.
Shares in British enterprise software group
rose 3.1% after posting half-year results with earnings-per-share ahead of analyst expectations. The group also guided that its margins would trend upward beyond 2021.
Sportswear giant
was a standout in Germany, with the stock up 0.6%. The New York Post reported late on Thursday that Authentic Brands and Wolverine World Wide—the footwear group behind Merrell and Hush Puppies—had made an offer of more than $1 billion to buy Reebok.
European food-delivery group
saw its stock tumble 3.2%, days after announcing that it would re-enter its competitive home market of Germany in June. Delivery Hero sold its German operations to rival Just Eat Takeaway two years ago.
Shares in French foods group
slipped 1%, after investment bank Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to sell.
Write to Alexandra Scaggs at alexandra.scaggs@barrons.com
