Stocks mixed after Trump signs executive orders for coronavirus relief
U.S. equity markets traded mixed on Monday after President Trump signed executive orders to provide COVID-19 relief while Congress ironed out its differences.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 225 points, or 0.82%, while the S&P 500 was higher by 0.14%. The Nasdaq Composite continued its recent underperformance, trading down 0.36%. A gain on Monday would extend the S&P 500’s winning streak to seven, the longest since April 2019.
Trump’s orders, signed Saturday, grant unemployed Americans an extra $400 per week, defer the payroll tax through the end of the year and postpone student-loan payments and put a freeze on evictions.
Looking at stocks, Eastman Kodak Co. shares were sharply lower after a $765 million loan aiding its pivot into manufacturing drug ingredients was put on hold by the United States International Development Finance Corporation due to an investigation into how the news was announced and stock options received by company executives.
Twitter Inc. held preliminary talks with TikTok about a deal for the social media app’s U.S. operations, according to The Wall Street Journal. Microsoft, which announced its pursuit earlier this month, remains the front runner.
Looking at earnings, Berkshire Hathaway's operating profit slid 10% versus last year due to a $9.8 billion writedown by its Precision Castparts business; however, overall revenue was up 86% as its investment portfolio rose by $30 billion. The Warren Buffett-led conglomerate bought back a record $5.1 billion of stock during the quarter.
Marriott International Inc. swung to a quarterly loss as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 72% year-over-year revenue decline. Worldwide occupancy, which reached a low point of 11% in early April, was up to 34% on Aug. 1.
Barrick Gold Corp. reported profit and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates during the three months through June as the miner tweaked operations to weather COVID-19. The Toronto-based gold explorer raised its quarterly dividend by 14% to 8 cents per share.
Looking at commodities, gold jumped $28.80 to $2,056.80 an ounce while West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 85 cents at $42.07 per barrel.
U.S. Treasurys were slightly higher, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down by 1.1 basis points to 0.551 percent.
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European markets were higher across the board with France’s CAC gaining 0.49%, Britain’s FTSE advancing 0.54% and Germany’s DAX ticking up 0.18%.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite rallied 0.75% while Hong Kong’s Hang Sang and Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.63% and 0.39%, respectively.
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