Mixed profit reports from big US. retailers helped keep the rest of the market in check.
TJX, the company behind the TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores, climbed 3.3 per cent after beating analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue. It also raised its forecast for profit over its full fiscal year, while CEO Ernie Herrman said TJX is seeing “strong demand at each of our US. and international businesses” and that its current quarter is off to a strong start.
Lowe’s added 1.1 per cent after the home-improvement retailer delivered a profit for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. It also said it agreed to buy Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, ceiling systems and other interior building products, for about $8.8 billion.
Target, meanwhile, tumbled 6.8 per cent. The struggling retailer said that CEO Brian Cornell plans to step down February 1 and that an insider, 20-year veteran Michael Fiddelke, will replace him. He helped de-energise the company, but it has struggled to turn around weak sales in a more competitive post-COVID retail landscape.
Estee Lauder dropped 5.5 per cent after offering a forecast for profit this upcoming fiscal year that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. The beauty company said it expects tariffs to shave roughly $US100 million ($155.5 million) off its upcoming earnings.
La-Z-Boy sank 12.2 per cent after the furniture maker’s profit and revenue for the spring came up shy of analysts’ expectations.
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The week’s biggest news for Wall Street is likely arriving on Friday, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will give a highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The setting has been home to big policy announcements from the Fed in the past, and the hope on Wall Street is that Powell will hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.
The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the country may be superseding that.
Treasury yields have come down sharply on expectations for an easing of interest rates, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.29 per cent from 4.30 per cent late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.
London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1 per cent despite a report that said inflation in the U.K. rose more than expected through July, in part due to soaring airfares and food prices.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.5 per cent after Japan reported that its exports fell slightly more than expected in July, pressured by higher tariffs on goods shipped to the US. Imports also fell from a year ago.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent. Shares that trade there of Chinese toy company Pop Mart International Group soared 12.5 per cent after its CEO said its annual revenue could top $US4 billion this year and announced the release of a mini version of its popular Labubu dolls.
AP
