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Dow Jones: 15,973.84 (-1.4%)
NASDAQ: 4,337.51 (-0.6%)
S&P 500: 1,864.78 (-0.8%)
Gold: 1,239.10 (+5.6%)
Copper: 203.65 (-1.9%)
Crude Oil: 28.96 (-6.2%)
Crude Oil fell below $30 per barrel amid renewed concerns about oversupply. It dropped 6.2% this week to close at $28.96 per barrel. Commercial crude oil inventories (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—SPR) declined 0.2% to 502.0 million barrels from 502.7 million the past week. The national average retail regular gasoline price fell 3.5% to $1.759 from $1.822 per gallon the preceding week.
The Federal Reserve maintained that the US labor market continues to show strength but expressed concern about financial market and global economic conditions. In spite of improvements in the labor market, inflation remains far below the 2% target. Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed expects inflation will rise in the medium term and it will be watching conditions before it meets to decide on another round of rate hikes.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in January 2016 from 5% in December 2015 as total nonfarm payroll employment rose 150,554 in January 2016 compared to 149,929 in December 2015. The decline was driven by employment gains in retail, food services and drinking places, healthcare and manufacturing. Overall, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.3% in 2015 from 6.2% recorded in 2014.
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) reported a 3.7% decrease in revenue for the fiscal year 2015. However, net income rose 3.6% while diluted EPS increased 4.4% to $1.67 from $1.60 the previous year. The revenue fall was attributed to deteriorating revenue from Latin America (down 12.5%), Eurasia & Africa (down 9.9%), Asia Pacific (down 8.6%), and Europe (down 7.4%) but offset by rising revenue from North America (up 1.5%). Global volume grew 2% for 2015.
Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) recorded a 13.8% revenue increase and a 32% net income surge for Q1 2016. Diluted EPS rose 36.2% to $1.73 from $1.27 YoY. The revenue upswing was driven by growth in studio entertainment (thanks to Star Wars: The Force Awakens), parks and resorts, and consumer products & interactive media. Although media networks revenue grew, its operating income shrunk because of falling subscribers and currency headwinds.
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) posted a marginal revenue decrease of 0.08% for Q2 2016. However, net income rose 31.3% while diluted EPS climbed 34.8% to $0.62 from $0.46 the same quarter last year. Revenue from the Americas fell 3% while takings from Asia Pacific, Japan and China rose 10% leaving overall revenue relatively unchanged. The increase in net income resulted from greater efficiency as cost of sales fell 7.2% and operating expenses dropped 7.4%.
Time Warner (NASDAQ: TWX) announced a revenue drop of 5.9% for Q4 2015 and a net income rise of 19.4% YoY. Diluted EPS increased 26.2% to $1.06 from $0.84 the same quarter in 2014. The decline was driven by falling revenue from Warner Bros. (down 13.4% as previous-quarter-revenue was boosted by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and checked, insignificantly, by growing revenue from HBO (up 5.5%) and Turner (up 2.1%).
Looking ahead to next week, the following companies will be releasing their earnings results.
