US Close 30 Jan 19: Wall St mixed in the face of earnings downgrades from big names

US sharemarkets were mixed on Tuesday. Earnings results were generally positive but there was also a raft of profit downgrades including those by 3M, Allergan and Harley Davidson. Investors also await key earnings from tech companies such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. And the Federal Reserve rates decision occurs on Wednesday. At the close of trade the Dow Jones index was up by 52 points or 0.2%. The S&P500 index was down by 0.2%. And the Nasdaq index lost 57 points or 0.8%.

European sharemarkets were firmer on Tuesday. There was caution ahead of key events such as the US interest rate decision and US-China trade talks. Technology shares fell 0.5% ahead of key US earnings results. The pan-European STOXX600 index rose by 0.8%. The UK FTSE lifted by 1.3% while the German Dax index edged up 0.1%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto rose by 3.4% and BHP rose by 0.7%.

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