NEW YORK, July 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday as investors digested corporate earnings reports and looked for clues for the central bank's next monetary policy move.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 68.77 points, or 0.25 percent, to 27,154.20. The S&P 500 decreased 18.50 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,976.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 60.75 points, or 0.74 percent, to 8,146.49.

Microsoft reported revenue of 33.7 billion U.S. dollars, beating Wall Street's estimate. The company's results were driven by a 39-percent year-over-year surge in cloud revenue. Diluted earnings per share was 1.71 U.S. dollars GAAP.

Credit card issuer American Express reported consolidated total revenues of 10.8 billion dollars, which were net of interest expense. Its quarterly diluted earnings per share was 2.07 dollars, up 13 percent from a year ago.

Second quarter earnings are expected to increase 1.0 percent from the same period last year. Excluding the energy sector, the earnings growth estimate is 1.6 percent, according to Refinitiv on Friday.

Of the 79 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 77.2 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations, said Refinitiv in its weekly analysis on corporate earnings.

However, analysts were cautious on third quarter earnings outlook.

The estimated earnings decline rate for the S&P 500 for the third quarter this year is 0.1 percent. If the energy sector is excluded, the earnings growth rate will be to 1.0 percent.

Major indices turned up into green territory on Thursday afternoon after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said "it pays to act quickly to lower rates at the first sign of economic distress."

Market expectations for a rate cut in July were at 100 percent, with 43.1 percent looking to a 50-basis-point cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

However, New York Fed clarified Williams' speech later, saying it "was an academic speech on 20 years of research. It was not about potential policy actions at the upcoming FOMC meeting," according to CNBC. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)