U.S. stocks struggled for direction amid another busy day for corporate earnings, which featured mixed results from industrial heavyweights Caterpillar and Boeing.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was little changed as of 12:33 p.m. ET, slipping 0.04%, or 1.15 points. The Dow (^DJI) fell 0.04%, or 8.12 points, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) rose 0.02%, or 1.68 points.

On Tuesday, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs, while the Dow came within 1% of an all-time record close, on the heels of stronger-than-expected results from consumer and tech names including Coca-Cola (KO) and Twitter (TWTR).

Wednesday morning, quarterly results from Boeing and Caterpillar took centerstage, with a more than 3% decline in the latter’s stock weighing on the Dow. After the closing bell, tech names including Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB), PayPay (PYPL) and Tesla (TSLA) report results.

Industrial earnings
Boeing (BA) Wednesday morning missed consensus estimates for quarterly earnings and said it would be placing a halt on issuing new guidance. Core earnings per share totaled $3.16 for the quarter, missing consensus estimates by 9 cents, while revenues of $22.9 billion were in-line with expectations. This comes in the wake of two deadly crashes involving the company’s 737 Max-8 aircraft, which spurred individual airlines and governments across the globe to ground the planes as ongoing investigations into the causes of the crashes take place.

The Bank of Canada kept the benchmark overnight rate steady at 1.75%, its fourth consecutive hold.  The USD/CAD surged 0.6% following the abandoning of higher interest rates.

Statement:

The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1 ¾ per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2 per cent and the deposit rate is 1 ½ per cent.

Global economic growth has slowed by more than the Bank forecast in its January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Ongoing uncertainty related to trade conflicts has undermined business sentiment and activity, contributing to a synchronous slowdown across many countries. In response, many central banks have signalled a slower pace of monetary policy normalization. Financial conditions and market sentiment have improved as a result, pushing up prices for oil and other commodities.

Global economic activity is expected to pick up during 2019 and average 3 ¼ per cent over the projection period, supported by accommodative financial conditions and as a number of temporary factors weighing on growth fade. This is roughly in line with the global economy’s potential and a modest downgrade to the Bank’s January projection.

The dollar continues to march on higher, while global yields fell as markets await the next wrath of earnings.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed above their prior record high closes yesterday and investors are continuing to run to stocks as the Fed appears on hold for the foreseeable future, possibly deep into 2020.

USD – Six-week rally as euro data continues to disappoint

AUD – Dismal inflation increases rate cut bets

Earnings – Boeing and Caterpillar grind higher  

Oil – Lower ahead of inventory data

Wednesday April 24: Five things the markets are talking about

European and Asian equites are/have been under pressure this Wednesday morning, while U.S stocks are pointing to a nondescript open, one day after a new registered record close. U.S Treasuries are climbing, and the dollar is slowly extending its rally to a six-week high.

Note: Both the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq posted record closing highs yesterday after a plethora of better-than-expected earnings reports eased investor concerns about a U.S economic slowdown.

Elsewhere, sterling is coming under renewed pressure as U.K PM Theresa May is expected to push hard to get some sort of a Brexit deal through Parliament by the end of this month, while emerging-market and oil pegged currencies are on the back foot after a few sessions of gains.

On the Sino-U.S trade front, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced yesterday that they will travel to Beijing for trade talks beginning on April 30.