The markets continued to respond to earnings today along with the strong pop in oil prices. The Dow 30 closed lower on the day thanks to earnings misses by IBM and Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). The S&P 500 added 2 largely due to the energy sector and the Nasdaq 100 closed higher by 14. The Federal Reserve came out with their beige book which mostly had information that was widely expected.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was the latest bank to report earnings today. The report came in better than expected thanks in part to the company's profits in it's trading business. Just like all the other major banks, trading profits we're above expectations. The stock initially started higher but selling pressure pushed it off it's highs of the day, closing higher by only 0.04%. For the year Morgan Stanley is higher by only 1.00%
CSX (NYSE: CSX) shares popped higher by 7.85% today as they reported earnings that easily beat Wall Street's expectations. Thanks to record growth and cost cutting measures the stock moved to new highs where it closed. The beat further boosted the transportation sector (NYSE: IYT) which has been strong since JB Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) reported earnings last week. For the year CSX is higher by almost 3%.
United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) brought some good news to the airline space as their earnings came in better than expected as well. The company reported a record profit thanks in part to higher fares and consumers thirst for travel despite the higher prices. The 5% pop today brings shares back to the even mark for the year. The beat also helped boost shares of other airlines despite the media attention on the Southwest (NYSE: LUV) flight that took the life of one passenger.