US stocks rose at midsession on Friday, with the best of the gains at the smaller cap end of the spectrum, as bullish earnings guidance and broker notes soothed markets while a key speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen was carefully crafted not to confirm a June rate hike.
Speaking at Harvard Yellen said it would probably be appropriate for the Federal Reserve to gradually raise rates in the coming months. But she urged caution and warned of hiking rates too steeply.
Even forecast-missing US GDP revisions or weaker oil prices failed to take the shine off the bourse, with the market bellwether S&P 500 index up 0.14% at 2,093.
But the gains only got bigger the smaller the stocks. The S&P Midcap 400 was up 0.5% at 1,488 and led by stocks such as discount retailer Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), up 12.8% at $50.35, as it raised earnings guidance for the year after a strong first quarter showing.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was up 0.6% at 701 and led by a diverse portfolio of global footwear brands Caleres Inc (NYSE:CAL), up 15.8% at $25.15. The stock made big gains despite missing estimates. For the quarter, Caleres earned $0.41 per share on sales of $584.7mln, missing estimates of $0.43 per share in earnings and revenue of a little over $610mln.
Despite the soft first quarter, analysts at BB&T capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised their price target to $26 per share following the earnings release, citing meaningful share repurchases, continued athletic expansion, and progress in supply chain initiatives.
The wider small-cap Russell 2000 index was up the most, by 0.7% to 1,147 and led by Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR), up 40.7% to $3.70, as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. Deutsche Bank also raised its price target to $7.50 from $3.50.
The West Texas Intermediate was down 0.4% at $49.28 having midweek spiked above $50 for the first time in 2016.
Open
Slightly worse gross domestic product data failed to take the gloss off a bright start by equities.
A revision to the estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) saw the annualised increase rise from a preliminary reading of 0.5% to 0.8%, but this was still a tad below what economists had been expecting.
“After a plethora of bullish rhetoric in recent days on the US economy, a slight miss of 0.1% on the annualised figure for Q1 GDP isn’t likely to quash hope across the pond,” said London-based sales trader Alex Sydall at forex firm Foenix Partners.
“With Janet Yellen signifying that global risks have subsided, markets are beginning to anticipate the probability of an interest rate hike coming soon. With key commodities retracing losses in recent weeks and China falling from the headlines, inflationary pressures will also be easing on the US economy, probing bullish Fed members to expect an imminent rate hike. Thus, the pertinent question for a June hike remains on how significant a factor the Federal Reserve deems a potential Brexit to be,” Sydall suggested.
The answer to that question may be given later today when Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen addresses a meeting at Harvard University.
Ahead of that, investors were chasing blue-chip prices higher, with the S&P 500 up five points at 2,095.
Mid-caps, as measured by the S&P 400, were also making headway, pushing the index four points higher to 2,094.
Putting both indices in the shade, however, was the Russell 2,000, which tracks the performance of small-caps. The Russell was five points, or 0.4%, firmer at 1,145.
On Nasdaq, Atossa Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:ATOS) was the top performer, adding a third to its value at 37 cents, as privately-owned Aspire Capital agreed to purchase $10mln of shares.
On the Big Board, discount retailer Big Lots Inc (NYSE:BIG) was the star of the show, rising nearly 10% to $48.94 as it raised earnings guidance for the year after a strong first quarter showing.
Preview
Stocks are set to open modestly higher ahead of today's speech at Harvard university by Janet Yellen, the head of the Federal Reserve.
Attendees will get two for the price of one, as former Fed boss Ben Bernanke is also set to speak, but it is Yellen's thoughts on the future path of interest rates to which investors will be paying most attention.
The S&P 500 is tipped to start almost three points up for last night's close of 2,090, while the Dow Jones average is expected to jump 20 points to 17,848 at the outset.
The second stab at measuring first quarter gross domestic product indicated that the US economy grew at an annualised 0.8%, versus a preliminary reading of a 0.5% rise.
The oil price, having made a brief foray above the $50 a barrel level, is back below it.
West Texas intermediate crude was off just over 1%, or 50 cents, at $48.98 a barrel.