ASX set for flat start; Wall Street’s winning streak ends

More than a third of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported their latest quarterly financial results. Most of the results have beat analysts’ forecasts.

Outside of earnings, Spirit Airlines jumped 15.3 per cent after the struggling budget airline said it will cut jobs and sell airplanes.

Capri Holdings, owner of the Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors luxury brands, lost almost half its value, 48.9 per cent, after a judge halted a purchase of the company by Tapestry, which makes Coach handbags. Tapestry rose 13.5 per cent.

The ruling came six months after the FTC sued to block Tapestry’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri.

McDonald’s lost another 3 per cent as the deadly outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to its Quarter Pounders expanded. The stock lost 7.6 per cent this week as it posted its worst weekly loss in more than four years.

Treasury yields were broadly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.24 per cent from 4.21 per cent late Thursday. It’s well above its 4.08 per cent level from late last week. The two-year Treasury yield rose to 4.10 per cent from 4.09 per cent late Thursday.

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Yields have generally climbed following reports showing the US economy remains stronger than expected. Wall Street will have more updates next week on consumer confidence, jobs and inflation.

The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate to its highest level in two decades in an effort to tame inflation back to 2 per cent, without sinking the economy into a recession. The economy has so far managed to escape severe damage from hot inflation and high interest rates.

Economists expect a key report on consumer spending late next week, called the PCE, to show that the rate of inflation has eased to 2 per cent. The central bank started cutting interest rates in September and economists expect another cut at its meeting in November.

Russia’s central bank on Friday raised its key interest rate by two percentage points to a record-high 21 per cent. Moscow is trying to combat growing inflation sparked by military spending after its invasion of Ukraine.

In Europe Germany’s DAX rose 0.1 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.1 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2 per cent lower. Stocks were mixed in Asia.

AP

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