Wall Street stocks mixed, energy sector leading as crude oil soars

• The energy sector was the winner on Wednesday as crude oil WTI soars above levels not seen since late 2014. 
• Earnings: American Express jumps 3% on earnings, IBM plummets 7.8% and Abbott drops 1.3%.

The S&P500 Index closed the day virtually unchanged at 2,709 while the Dow Jone Industrial Average lost 0.16% and closed at 24,748. The Nasdaq gained 0.19% and closed at 7,295.24. Energy stocks, basic materials and industrials were the leading sectors of the day. Crude oil broke above the current 2018 high and reached $68.82 a barrel, levels not seen since late 2014. The impending sanctions on Russia and Iran could lead to an oil supply disruption.  

Although the market took a breather in midweek’s trading, corporate earnings continue to be the main focus as market participants are less anxious about geopolitical issues for the time being. Even the recent headlines with North Korea is not really distracting investors from the corporate revenues’ reports. Traders on Wednesday mainly rotated their assets from technology stocks to energy and commodity-related stocks. 

Earnings wise American Express jumped almost 3% on Wednesday after it reported its first-quarter earnings and sales which were above Wall Street expectations. American Express earned $1.6 billion or $1.86 a share versus $1.3 billion or $1.35 the year earlier. Revenue soared to $9.72 billion in the first quarter, from $8.71 billion a year earlier.

On the other hand, Abbott Laboratories stock dropped 1.3% although it reported profit and sales above consensus in the first quarter. 

IBM’s shares plummeted a whopping 7.8% as its earnings beat were mainly due to a one-time tax gain, according to analysts. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report earlier on Wednesday says that the Fed’s plan to gradually raise rates was on track. “The U.S. economy continued to expand at a modest-to-moderate pace across all of the central bank's districts in March and early April,” says the report. However, the report also pointed out concerns over trade wars. 

S&P 500 Index

The day ended up virtually unchanged on the index which keeps a bullish bias.