Wall Street ends mixed on busy earnings season, DJIA lowest low in consecutive daily losses

• Business time for corporate earnings weigh made for a mixed day on Wall Street.
• Brexit and trade wars continue to take the spotlight.

US benchmarks ended mixed on Thursday, while the Dow was under the weather following a drop in the shares of 3M as corporate quarterly results kept traders alert and active on Wall Street with a handful of Dow components and 45 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA, dropped 28.42 points, or 0.11%, to end the session at 26,805.53. The S&P 500 index, meanwhile, added 5.77 points to 3,010.29 and the Nasdaq Composite Index put on 66 points, or 0.81%, at 8,185.80.

Brexit and trade deal update

As for other news, the UK PM called for a snap election on 12 December, with a vote on the motion to be held on Monday.

“It would be the third general election in four years. A two-thirds majority is required; Labour said it would support an election once a no-deal Brexit is ruled out and the EU has granted an extension. Johnson said “it is our duty to end this nightmare”. If the motion passes, it is theoretically possible but unlikely that Parliament could rush through the deal before dissolution on 6 November,”

analysts at ABZ Bank explained.  

US-China relations:

VP Mike Pence made a speech on Thursday where he  criticised China’s human rights record, telling Hong Kong protesters “we stand with you”.   Meanwhile, the analysts at ANZ explained that under the Phase 1 deal, the White House reported that China’s purchases of US farm goods would scale up to USD40-50bn/y within a couple of years, while the US will delay a tariff increase scheduled for 15 Oct.

DJIA levels

The DJIA has made several consecutive bearish closes but the 21-DMA is proving to be firm support, although the lowest low since the series of bearish days started and a breach of the moving average makes for a fragile foundation at this juncture. A break back into the 27000s is required to stave off the risk of downside extension. A break below the 50-DMA opens risk to the 26200s and the 200-DMA in the same vicinity.