Major US stock indexes ended the session in different directions after US Secretary of Commerce Wilber Ross called China's technological strategy in 2025 a "direct threat" and hinted at actions against Beijing.

A certain pressure on the indices was also provided by the US data. Data for January indicated another solid expansion of business activity in the private sector in the US, supported by the fastest growth in new orders within 5 months. At the same time, production continued to grow much faster than the activity of the service sector. The combined PMI index from IHS Markit for the US was 53.8 in January, compared with 54.1 in December, and showed the least noticeable pace of business expansion since May 2017. Nevertheless, the index for today remains above the threshold level of 50.0 for 23 consecutive months.

Meanwhile, home sales in the US fell more than expected in December, as housing supply in the market fell to a record low, pushing up prices and probably alienating some buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that home sales in the secondary market declined in December by 3.6%, to 5.57 million units (seasonally adjusted and in annual terms). Meanwhile, the November sales were revised from 5.81 million to 5.78 million units, which is still the highest since February 2007. Economists predicted that housing sales in December will decrease only to 5.70 million units.

Most components of the DOW index recorded a rise (19 out of 30). The leader of growth was the shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS, + 2.05%). Outsider were shares of General Electric Company (GE, -2.22%).

Most sectors of S & P showed an increase. The commodities sector grew most (+ 1.0%). The largest decrease was shown by the sector of conglomerates (-0.6%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.16% 26.252.19 +41.38

Nasdaq -0.61% 7,415.06 -45.23

S & P -0.05% 2.837.59 -1.54

U.S. stock-index futures rose on Wednesday following as a string of earnings from industrial giants buoyed market sentiment. Particular attention was paid to the financials of General Electric (GE) and United Technologies (UTX).

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 23,940.78 -183.37 -0.76%

Hang Seng 32,958.69 +27.99 +0.08%

Shanghai 3,560.73 +14.23 +0.40%

S&P/ASX 6,054.70 +17.70 +0.29%

FTSE 7,694.04 -37.79 -0.49%

CAC 5,529.79 -5.47 -0.10%

DAX 13,556.78 -2.82 -0.02%

Crude $64.70 (+0.36%)

Gold $1,351.60 (+1.11%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Microsoft (MSFT) initiated with a Buy at Nomura; target $102

Caterpillar (CAT) target raised to $180 from $162 at Barclays

Home Depot (HD) target raised to $222 from $183 at Credit Suisse

Chevron (CVX) target raised to $145 from $130 at Morgan Stanley

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) target raised to $145 at Stifel

Amazon (AMZN) target raised to $1475 from $1350 at JMP Securities

United Tech (UTX) reported Q4 FY 2017 earnings of $1.60 per share (versus $1.56 in Q4 FY 2016), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $1.56.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $15.680 bln (+7.0% y/y), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $15.344 bln.

The company also issued in-line guidance for FY 2018, projecting EPS of $6.85-7.10 (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $6.97) and revenues of $62.5-64.0 bln (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $62.97 bln).

UTX fell to $136.00 (-0.02%) in pre-market trading.

General Electric (GE) reported Q4 FY 2017 earnings of $0.27 per share (versus $0.46 in Q4 FY 2016), missing analysts' consensus estimate of $0.28.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $31.402 bln (-5.1% y/y), missing analysts' consensus estimate of $33.927 bln.

The company reaffirmed guidance for FY 2018, projecting EPS of $1.00-1.07 versus analysts' consensus estimate of $1.01.

GE rose to $17.06 (+1.01%) in pre-market trading.

Europeans stocks pushed higher Monday, with Spanish and Greek shares gaining in the wake of sovereign ratings upgrades and closing at a 5-month and almost three-year highs, respectively. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.17% ended up 0.3% at 402.11, closing at its highest since August 2015. Last week, the pan-European gauge rose for a third consecutive week.

U.S. stocks mostly rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ending at an all-time highs, a day after a partial shutdown of the government came to an end. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.22% closed up 0.2% at 2,839, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.71% closed up 0.7% at 7,460.

Asia's blazing stock rally took a pause on Wednesday as investors took stock of the best start to a year for the region since 2006. A strengthening yen hit Japanese shares, and a record winning streak for Chinese stocks in Hong Kong was at risk of finally ending.

(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei +307.82 24124.15 +1.29%

TOPIX +19.15 1911.07 +1.01%

Hang Seng +537.29 32930.70 +1.66%

CSI 300 +46.01 4382.61 +1.06%

Euro Stoxx 50 +7.01 3672.29 +0.19%

FTSE 100 +16.39 7731.83 +0.21%

DAX +95.91 13559.60 +0.71%

CAC 40 -6.73 5535.26 -0.12%

DJIA -3.79 26210.81 -0.01%

S&P 500 +6.16 2839.13 +0.22%

NASDAQ +52.26 7460.29 +0.71%

S&P/TSX +9.57 16357.55 +0.06%