Investors’ reaction to a slew of earnings reports | Calamatta Cuschieri

European markets were surrounded by somewhat mixed outlooks on Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve came to a decision to maintain the current level of interest rates, and as investors reacted to a slew of earnings reports.

All major European indexes, UK’s FTSE 100, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s Deutsche Boerse were all in the red, reporting a marginal decline.

On the other side of the pond, US stocks traded mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a good day, closing at a record on Thursday driven by earnings in the likes of Verizon and Boeing. But the broader market finished in negative territory due to a firm slump in technology stocks.

Food and beverage companies amongst the top performers

In Europe, food and beverage companies were amongst the top performers at around mid-day trade as investors digested strong earnings news.

British alcoholic beverage company Diageo, the company behind Smirnoff Vodka and Johnnie Walker, shares surged to an all-time high after pledging to spend £1.5 billion to buy back its shares from investors.

Facebook’s rise vs Twitter’s fall

American social network giant Facebook shares were significantly up on Thursday’s trading session after posting a better-than-expected quarterly profit figure of $3.89 billion, up 71 percent from last year. Following this announcement, Facebook shares hit a record figure, resulting in Facebook becoming the second tech giant to hit a market capitalisation of $500 billion in just two days.

In contrast to Facebook’s surge, Twitter Inc. shares dropped 13 percent in mid-day trading after reporting the number of monthly active users, which have remained flat from the previous quarter, and a decline in advertising revenue, year-over-year.

Boeing soared to record high

World’s biggest plane maker; Boeing shares soared in the past two trading sessions after posting second-quarter profit and cash flow which were well ahead of Wall Street estimates. The airline reported a net profit of $1.76 billion, compared to the previous year’s loss of $234 million.

After announcing the results, Dennis Muilenburg, the company’s CEO; who proved to be instrumental in Boeing’s recent success, stated that the company is not planning any further restructuring, but will keep on cutting costs aggressively.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Christopher Cutajar, Junior Investment Advisor at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.