US stocks closed little changed on Monday as investors hesitated to make big bets ahead of the start of the corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06 points, or 0.01%, to finish at 12,381.11. The S&P 500 slipped 8.91 points, or 0.32%, to close at 1,324.46. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 8.91 points, or 0.32%, to 2,771.51.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) on Monday reported that it swung to a first quarter profit of $308 million, or $0.27 per share, from a loss of $201 million, or $0.20 per share, in the year-ago period. Income from continuing operations attributable to Alcoa, as adjusted, for the first quarter was $317 million or $0.28 per share.Revenue rose 20% to $5.96 billion from $4.89 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $0.27 per share on revenue of $6.32 billion. Alcoa shares slumped more than 3% in after-hours trading.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) slumped 47 cents, or 3.07%, to $14.86 after China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said last Sunday that the country’s auto sales grew 5.36% year-on-year in March, slightly rebounding from the slowest growth rate in past two years in February, but still far below the 75% year-on-year growth last March.
European stocks closed up. The UK FTSE rose 48.38 points, or 0.81% to 6,055.75. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.53% and 0.83% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 48.38 points, or 0.50%, to 9,719.70. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong slipped 93 points, or 0.38%, to 24,309.07.
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