Day Traders Diary

4/21/23

The major averages finished in the green but wasn't enough for the Dow Jones, snapping a four week winning streak following a flood of earnings. The Dow Industrial Average finished up 22 points or 0.07%. The S&P 500 closed up 3 points to settle at 4,133.  The Nasdaq Composite rose 12 points.

All major indices finished the week in the red, with the Dow falling 0.23% to snap a four-week win streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the biggest decline, falling 0.42%, while the S&P slipped 0.1%.

Earnings season continued Friday, with results from Procter & Gamble. The consumer products company gained 3.5% after beating expectations and lifting it sales forecast. As of Friday morning, 76% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings so far have beaten analyst EPS estimates, according to FactSet.

Elsewhere, materials stocks were the worst performers, with Freeport-McMoRan falling 4.1% after posting a year-over-year decline in its quarterly results. Albemarle tumbled 10% as Chile said it would nationalize its lithium industry.

While companies broadly beat expectations this week, overall profit reports failed to boost stocks, with some investors fearing an earnings drop looms with a likely recession ahead.

Earnings continue next week with results on deck from Big Tech companies Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.