FYI: U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses Tuesday, a day after the S&P 500 closed at a record, as investors sifted through a heavy batch of earnings reports and awaited key economic data later this week.
The broad stock-market index lost 2 point, failing to build on Monday’s high—the index’s first record since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20 points, or 0.07%, after rising as much as 75 points earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.59% as technology stocks stumbled in the wake of Alphabet’s disappointing earnings report.
The lack of follow-through highlights investors’ uncertainty ahead of some big reports. This week brings a reading on third-quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday and the monthly jobs report on Friday. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is expected to cut interest rates for the third time this year at the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting.
To that end, three reports on the housing market Tuesday morning showed it gaining modest strength thanks to lower mortgage rates. But it was another round of earnings reports that was getting most of the attention.
General Motors, which said the worker strike this year cost it $3 billion and cut its 2019 profit forecast, climbed 5.4% after third-quarter earnings beat Street estimates.
Shares of Pfizer rose 2.9% after the drugmaker raised its financial targets for 2019. Rival Merck gained 4.2% after it, too, boosted its outlook.
KKR fell 0.4% after reporting third-quarter earnings that fell 60% from a year ago, but still beat Street expectations.
Google parent Alphabet fell 2.5% after a third-quarter report showed that rising costs and weakness at some long-held investments outpaced online advertising sales growth.
Grubhub slumped 42% after the online-delivery company said competition is hurting its orders and customer growth, and cut its outlook as a result.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 0.2%, led by losses in financial services and the oil and gas sectors.
The British pound pared back earlier losses and traded at about $1.29 after the main opposition party in the U.K. said it would support efforts to hold an early general election. That makes a national ballot that might help break the parliamentary deadlock over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s divorce deal with the European Union more likely. The FTSE 100 index declined 0.3%.
Across Asian markets, the picture was more mixed, with the Nikkei 225 index up 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite slumped 0.9%.
U.S. crude fell 0.1% to $55.79 a barrel after data Monday showed rising inventories.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-29/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-index-futures-edge-lower-after-sp-500-notches-record-2019-10-29/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-slip-as-investors-look-ahead-to-earnings-11572341316Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/asia-stocks-to-gain-after-u-s-record-bonds-drop-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-pfizer-earnings-merck-earnings/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/dow-futures-earnings-china-trade-talks-in-focus.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-st-holds-steady-after-sp-hits-record-idUKKBN1X81CCU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-down-most-in-10-days-as-uk-heads-for-election-bp-slides-idUKKBN1X80T1Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-shares-break-six-day-winning-streak-focus-moves-to-fed-idUSKBN1X80T5Asia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/asia-stocks-oct-29-us-china-trade-sp-500-currencies-and-oil.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/us-bonds-treasury-yields-tick-lower-amid-trade-optimism.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/forex-markets-us-china-trade-war-federal-reserve-in-focus.htmlOil
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/oil-markets-us-china-trade-war-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/gold-markets-us-china-trade-talks-federal-reserve-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
