S&P 500 wavers, UnitedHealth lifts Dow: Live updates

These are some of the companies making headlines in midday trading.

• UnitedHealth — Shares climbed more than 6%, single-handedly pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher on Tuesday. UnitedHealth posted better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast of $27.50 to $28 per share excluding items. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast $27.50.
• Johnson & Johnson — The drugmaker slipped 2% despite beating first-quarter profit estimates and reporting in-line revenue. Johnson & Johnson adjusted its full-year sales forecast for 2024 to a range of $88 billion to $88.4 billion compared to a previous forecast of $87.8 billion to $88.6 billion.
• SolarEdge Technologies — Barclays maintained an underweight rating on the solar company, saying its fixed costs will weigh on profit margins, helping send the stock down 2%. However, the Wall Street bank raised its price target on SolarEdge to $61 from $50. Shares closed Monday at $60.44.

See the full list here.

— Brian Evans

April showers are evident in the market this year.

The three major indexes have pulled back this month, on track for their worst performances since at least the new year began.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have both slipped more than 3%. That would mark the worst monthly performances for each going back to September 2023.

The Dow has lagged, tumbling more than 5% thus far in 2024’s fourth month. If that holds, it will be the biggest loss in a month since September 2022.

— Alex Harring

Power demand is growing at a pace not seen since the 1980s due to the onshoring of battery and chip manufacturing in the U.S., according to Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good.

“We are seeing demand at a pace that we have not seen probably since the ’80s or ’90s in the Carolinas,” Good said at the Columbia Global Energy Summit on Tuesday. The CEO said demand is expected to grow 1.5% to 2% or more in the near term, compared to flat growth in the past.

“Over the last 18 months, the expansion of demand has expanded far beyond electrification,” Good said. The growing number of domestic chip and battery manufacturers as well as data centers supporting artificial intelligence require power around the clock, the CEO said.

Duke is targeting 30,000 megawatts of renewables and 10,000 megawatts of batteries across its system by 2035, Good said. But natural gas will also play an important role in meeting the growing power demand until hydrogen and new nuclear technologies are commercialized, Good said. Gas has helped Duke reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45% since 2005 as coal is phased out, she said.

“We need a bridge fuel — we used to call it a bridge fuel — we need the fuel to get from here to the future,” Good said.

— Spencer Kimball

The Dow kicked off Tuesday higher, on pace for its first positive session in seven.

The 30-stock index climbed 0.6% shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 traded around flat, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

— Alex Harring

Industrial production rose 0.4% in March, in line with market expectations, though it fell 1.8% for the first quarter of 2024, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.

The Fed also said capacity utilization, a measure of total output potential, was at 78.4%, up 0.2 percentage points from February but slightly below the Dow Jones estimate for 78.5%. The measure held below its long-run average of 79.6%.

— Jeff Cox

Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson said Tuesday that he expects inflation to continue to decline as the central bank keeps its restrictive policy in place.

“My baseline outlook continues to be that inflation will decline further, with the policy rate held steady at its current level, and that the labor market will remain strong, with labor demand and supply continuing to rebalance,” Jefferson said in a discussion about how policymaking has changed over the years.

“Of course, the outlook is still quite uncertain, and if incoming data suggest that inflation is more persistent than I currently expect it to be, it will be appropriate to hold in place the current restrictive stance of policy for longer,” he added.

Markets currently are pricing in the Fed to stay on hold until September, then slowly begin cutting rates.

— Jeff Cox

Both new construction and permits to build homes missed expectations in March, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Tuesday.

Privately owned housing starts totaled 1.32 for the month on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 14.7% from February and below the 1.48 million Dow Jones estimate and a 4.3% decline from a year ago. On permits, the total fell 4.3% on a monthly basis to 1.46 million, less than the 1.51 million estimate.

Housing units completed totaled 1.47 million, a 13.5% slide from February.

— Jeff Cox

These are some of the companies making headlines before the bell.

• UnitedHealth — Shares popped roughly 7% after the health-care giant posted better-than-expected revenue in its first-quarter results on Tuesday, with growth of close to 9% from $91.9 billion in the same period last year. UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $6.91 per share on revenue of $99.8 billion for the quarter, while analysts surveyed by LSEG expected earnings of $6.61 per share on revenue of $99.3 billion.
• Morgan Stanley — Shares added 3.2% after Morgan Stanley topped first-quarter expectations on wealth management, trading and advisory results. The company reported earnings of $2.02 a share, while analysts polled by LSEG had called for $1.66 a share. Revenue came at $15.14 billion for the period, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $14.41 billion.
• Live Nation Entertainment — Shares plunged 9.6% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against the Ticketmaster parent company in the coming weeks.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Crude oil futures fell for a second day Tuesday as the U.S. expects a limited response from Israel to an unprecedented air assault by Iran, reducing fears that the Middle East is on the verge of a broader regional war.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery lost 52 cents, or 0.61%, to $84.89 a barrel. The June Brent futures contract fell 49 cents, or 0.54%, to $89.61 a barrel.

Four U.S. officials told NBC News they expect an Israeli response to Iran’s attack to be limited in scope and most likely to involve strikes on Iranian forces and their proxies outside Iran.

“Tensions are high, and either party’s next moves are hard to predict, but all the significant signs point toward an easing of hostilities and restraint in the short term,” said Jorge Leon, senior vice president at Rystad Energy, a consulting firm.

— Spencer Kimball

Morgan Stanley shares popped in Tuesday’s premarket as the financial giant’s latest earnings report came in ahead of analysts’ forecasts.

The bank posted first-quarter earnings of $2.02 per share on $15.14 billion in revenue. It came ahead of consensus estimates from analysts polled by LSEG on both lines, with the group expecting $1.66 in earnings per share and $14.41 billion in revenue.

— Alex Harring

Bank of America posted better-than-expected first-quarter results, boosted by strong interest income and investment banking revenue.

The company earned and adjusted 83 cents per share on revenue of $25.98 billion. Analysts expected earnings per share of 76 cents on revenue of $25.46 billion. Net interest income came in at $14.19 billion, beating a StreetAccount estimate of $13.93 billion.

— Fred Imbert

Shares of UnitedHealth were up more than 5% in the premarket after the health insurance giant posted first-quarter revenue that beat expectations.

The company’s top line came in at $99.8 billion, exceeding an LSEG estimate of $99.3 billion. UnitedHealth earned an adjusted $6.91 per share, but it was not clear if that was comparable to a consensus forecast of $6.61 per share.

— Fred Imbert

European stocks opened lower Tuesday, with the benchmark Stoxx 600 index down by 1.2% by 9 a.m. London time, its lowest level since March 7.

All sectors traded in the red. The U.K.’s FTSE 100, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were all lower by 1.3%.

— Jenni Reid

China’s industrial output for March grew 4.5% year-on-year, missing Reuters’ expectations of a 6% expansion.

China’s manufacturing industry grew 5.1% while its mining industry grew 0.2%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The country’s electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply industry climbed by 4.9%.

The country’s retail sales, a gauge for its consumption, grew 3.1% year-on-year, less than expectations for 4.6% growth. The reading also slowed from the prior month’s figure of a 5.5% growth.

—Lee Ying Shan

China’s economy grew 5.3% in the first quarter compared with a year ago, faster than the 4.6% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that gross domestic product in the January to March period was higher than the 5.2% growth for the fourth quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s GDP grew 1.6% in the first quarter.

Beijing has set a 2024 growth target of around 5%.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Japanese yen fell to its weakest level since June 1990, crossing the 154 mark against the U.S. dollar.

The yen has been firmly beyond the 150 mark since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates on March 19, with Japanese officials repeatedly saying that “all options are on the table” to counter excessive yen moves.

On April 4, former top currency diplomat Hiroshi Watanabe said authorities will not intervene until the yen crosses 155 against the greenback, according to Reuters.

Live Nation Entertainment shares dropped more than 7% in extended trading after The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar, reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is planning to sue the parent company of Ticketmaster in the coming weeks. The antitrust lawsuit alleges Live Nation has used its power and influence in concert promotion to undermine the competition, the report said.

Live Nation shares have gained more than 6% this year.