Roundup: U.S. equities post weekly losses amid data, earnings

Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-26 04:38:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. equities posted losses in the week ending Jan. 24 as investors digested a batch of key economic data and quarterly corporate earnings data.

For the week, the Dow lost 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 declined 1 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.8 percent.

On data front, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased less than expected last week. The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 211,000 for the week ending Jan. 18, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 213,250, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average, said the department.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut global growth projections on Monday, citing negative surprises in a few emerging markets, notably in India, and increased social unrest, but added that "global growth may be bottoming out."

The global economic growth forecast was downgraded from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent for 2020. The U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.0 percent this year, according to IMF.

On the earnings front, American Express reported fourth-quarter results on Friday before the opening bell, which beat analyst expectations as card fee revenues grew more than expected.

It registered quarterly earnings per share of 2.03 U.S. dollars. Its consolidated total revenues net of interest expense were 11.4 billion dollars, up 9 percent year on year.

Intel beat estimates for the fourth quarter and gave an optimistic forecast for the first quarter of 2020. The company reported non-GAAP earnings per share of 1.52 dollars on revenue of 20.2 billion dollars.

IBM reported operating non-GAAP earnings per share of 4.71 U.S. dollars on revenue of 21.8 billion dollars, both topping Wall Street's expectations.

The company said it expects this year's operating non-GAAP earnings per share to reach at least 13.35 dollars.

"We ended 2019 on a strong note, returning to overall revenue growth in the quarter, led by accelerated cloud performance," said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Netflix reported fourth quarter U.S. and Canadian paid subscriber additions of 550,000, lower than market expectations.

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