AmEx and SLB Experience Stock Price Declines in Second Quarter
July 21 (Reuters) – American Express (AmEx) and SLB both saw their stock prices fall on Friday following disappointing second-quarter revenue reports. AmEx shares declined by 3.9% after the credit card giant missed quarterly revenue estimates and maintained its full-year profit outlook. Similarly, SLB, the top oilfield services firm, saw its stock price slide by 2.2% as it failed to meet expectations for quarterly revenue due to a decrease in drilling activity in North America.
The mixed performance of these two companies contributed to a day of mixed results in the broader U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to rise marginally, marking its 10th consecutive day of gains, the longest winning streak it has had in nearly six years. The blue-chip index was lifted by the strong performance of Procter & Gamble and Chevron, both of which saw gains of more than 1%. This year, the Dow is now up over 6%, while the S&P 500 has risen by 18%.
“The Dow playing catch-up shows there is a rotation into other sectors, like healthcare and financials. The rally is not just tech-heavy anymore,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management.
Despite the mixed performance of individual stocks, the overall market saw little movement. The S&P 500 edged up by 0.03% to close at 4,536.34 points, while the Nasdaq declined by 0.22% to 14,032.81 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by just 0.01% to 35,227.69 points. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.7%, the Nasdaq fell by 0.6%, and the Dow saw a 2.1% increase.
Analysts attribute Friday’s volatile trading to the expiration of monthly options and the anticipated rebalancing of the multi-trillion dollar Nasdaq 100 following the close of trading. Nvidia and Meta Platforms both experienced declines of more than 2% during the choppy trading session, while the utilities sector of the S&P 500 saw a 1.5% increase and the healthcare sector index rose by 1%.
Additionally, Netflix saw its stock price dip by 2.3% for a second consecutive day after its quarterly results failed to impress investors. However, the Nasdaq has still gained about 34% this year, buoyed by optimism about artificial intelligence and a relatively strong U.S. economy.
Looking ahead, investors have mixed views on the Federal Reserve’s longer-term monetary policy, despite the widespread expectation of a 25-basis-point interest rate hike at the central bank’s upcoming meeting.
Overall, the day’s trading saw advancing issues outnumbering declining ones within the S&P 500 by a ratio of 1.5 to 1. Volume on U.S. exchanges remained relatively light, with 10.4 billion shares traded, slightly below the average of 10.6 billion over the previous 20 sessions.
Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Additional reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Richard Chang