The markets were mostly mixed today with no real directional bias. This can be attributed to lack of news and pending earnings from Apple which is always a market mover. The Dow 30 was higher by 21, the S&P 500 was up 2, and the Nasdaq 100 was higher by 3. Earnings will continue to be the focus going into tomorrow, but by the afternoon the focus will shift to the Federal Reserve and their interest rate announcement. Rates are expected to remain unchanged but traders will be focused on the language used in their statement. Finally, crude oil traders will be looking at the weekly inventory reports which will be out in the morning.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will be the main focus today as the company is set to report its second quarter earnings. Analysts are expecting earnings per share of $2.02 on revenue of $53.08 billion. iPhone sales will, as always be one of the main focus points. One analyst has Apple selling 52 million iPhones during the quarter. If that is an accurate assumptions that would be growth of 800,000 new phones from a year ago. There's also hope and speculation that Apple will increase its stock buyback and raise its dividend. Last April, Apple raised its stock buyback to $140 billion and upped its dividend to 57 cents. Shares were higher by 0.63% at the close.
Gilead (NASDAQ: GILD) is also a notable name that will report earnings after the close. The pharmaceutical company is largely expected to report earnings per share of $2.28 on revenue of $6.62 billion. Gilead had previously cut its sales guidance for the year after its sluggish fourth quarter results. Gilead's stock has fallen about 4.3% since the beginning of the year. Shares were higher by 0.70% on the day.