The major indices in the United States fell for a third consecutive day on Tuesday as markets anticipated big tech earnings.
After the likes of Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan released Q1 numbers last week, big tech will start reporting its earnings today, starting with Netflix.
The streaming giant will be reporting its performance for the first quarter after today’s closing bell, with IBM to follow soon after.
Regarding Netflix, they are expected to report earnings per share of $2.97, while revenue is expected to have risen to $7.14 billion from $5.77 billion a year ago.
The company’s share price was down 0.37% as of writing, with the S&P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones also in the red.
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FTSE 100 falls despite declining British unemployment
The UK’s FTSE 100 was down in today’s session, despite data showing the country’s unemployment rate had unexpectedly fallen.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that Britain’s unemployment rate fell for a second consecutive month in the latest report.
The jobless rate fell to 4.9% during December -to-February, despite the country being in lockdown during this period.
Although markets had expected the rate to come in at 5.1% for this period, many believe the UK’s furlough scheme helped employers keep a sizable portion of workers employed.
London’s FTSE 100 was down 2% at close of business.
After warnings of blood clotting issues with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, European regulators today found similar risk with the Johnson & Johnson jab.
The European Medicines Agency today announced that, “The EMA’s safety committee concluded that a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be added to the product information for COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen”.
EMA officials added that, “Healthcare professionals and people who will receive the vaccine should be aware of the possibility of very rare cases of blood clots combined with low levels of blood platelets occurring within three weeks of vaccination”.
Despite this the group added that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, and markets seemed to have taken to this as J&J was trading 2.5% higher as of writing.
Quote of the day – “Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.”
– Steve Clark