Damian Troise
Updated ,first published
Stocks edged lower on Wall Street as oil prices rose and more company earnings reports rolled in.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent, and was just below the record it reached on Tuesday (US time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 per cent.
The Australian sharemarket is set to slide, with futures pointing to a loss of 12 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.5 per cent on Thursday to reset its record high. The Australian dollar is weaker at US70.35¢.
Atlassian, a leading provider of AI-powered collaboration and team productivity software, surged 26.1 per cent in after-hours trade after releasing robust results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year.
Total revenue grew 28 per cent year-over-year to $US1.77 billion ($2.5 billion) and cloud revenue growth rose 31 per cent year-on-year.
“Q4 closes out a year that proves our long-term strategy is paying off,” said Mike Cannon‑Brookes, Atlassian’s CEO and co‑founder.
Meanwhile, the White House has invited top executives from the US critical minerals industry to a meeting with Trump meant to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to wean the nation off supply chains dominated by China.
The event is designed to showcase efforts to help spur critical minerals development and processing, with plans to unveil a handful of a deals and memoranda of understanding, according to people familiar with the summit, who requested anonymity to provide details ahead of a formal announcement.
Among those invited to the meeting are representatives from industry heavyweights including Rio Tinto, BHP and Freeport-McMoRan, among others, the people said.
Some companies are still determining whether they will attend in person and if so, which executives to send, according to the people familiar. Trump is set to be joined by leaders of his National Energy Dominance Council.
Wall Street opened the week soaring higher and notching records, but has calmed over the last two days. Companies from a mix of sectors reported their latest financial results, adding to an already busy round of corporate earnings reports.
“August is off to an extremely strong start, but there is still plenty of August left to go, and August is typically a volatile month for stocks,” said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth, in a research note.
Warner Bros. Discovery rose 1.7 per cent after reporting earnings that came in ahead of what investors were expecting. Molson Coors rose 1.3 per cent after also reporting encouraging financial results.
On the losing end, Honeywell Aerospace fell 23.2 per cent after turning in results that fell well short of forecasts. AppLovin slumped 19.7 per cent after the digital ad company reported mixed financial results for its most recent quarter.
Strong overall profits from companies has helped allay concerns on Wall Street about the market being overpriced. Roughly 85 per cent of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results and overall earnings growth for the period is shaping up to be the strongest since 2021.
Outside of earnings, SpaceX surged 6.1 per cent. More than 911 million SpaceX shares held by early investors and employees became eligible for sale on Thursday as a lockup period for the stock expired. That is more than double the shares that were initially offered to the public for sale during the initial public offering for Elon Musk’s company. SpaceX jumped as high as $US225 a share following its market debut in June, but has since slumped below its initial $US135 offering price. The stock closed at $US114.92.
Oil prices gained ground as uncertainty remains over the US war with Iran that has stifled the global flow of oil. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.9 per cent to $US82.55.
Iran has said that it is close to a deal with Oman for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump has also previously said a deal is close, but the conflict has had many starts and stops over the last five months.
A fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas once passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices surged as high as $US113 during the conflict and higher prices have added more heat to inflation by raising the price of gasoline and raising costs for shipping.
The rate of inflation is stuck above 3 per cent and higher costs have been squeezing businesses and households, while threatening to crimp broader economic growth. The US economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5 per cent pace during the second quarter. Households are still spending and the jobs market remains resilient, but worries linger for both areas of the economy.
Higher gas prices and added costs for shipping goods could prompt households to shift more spending toward necessities. That could hurt businesses focusing on nonessential items and services for many people, such as travel and entertainment.
Employment remains strong, but growth has been easing. A weekly report on Thursday showed that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, though layoffs remain in the historically healthy range of the past few years. Employers pulled back on hiring in June, adding only 57,000 jobs. The latest monthly jobs report, for July, will be released on Friday.
Worries about inflation and the jobs market have prompted the Federal Reserve to hold its benchmark interest rate steady. Stubborn inflation, though, is nudging the central bank toward raising interest rates before the end of the year in order to help tame inflation. Raising rates, though, could also slow economic growth while weighing down prices for stocks and other investments.
Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.67 per cent from 4.63 per cent late on Wednesday.
European markets were mostly higher, and Asian markets closed mostly lower overnight.
AP, Bloomberg
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