Technology group IBM was among the winners on the stock exchanges in New York on Tuesday, thanks to good quarterly figures.
Investors also included pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and the manufacturer of cleaning and care products Procter & Gamble (P&G). The primary degree gauges on Wall Street dropped slightly upon opening.
IBM (plus 3.6 percent) has seen its first-quarter revenue increase for the first time in a year, mainly thanks to growth in the cloud activities that the company is increasingly focused on under the leadership of CEO Arvind Krishna. Total revenues were up 1 percent to $ 17.7 billion from a year earlier.
J & J’s corona vaccine generated sales of $ 100 million in the first quarter. The vaccine developed by subsidiary Janssen from Leiden was suspended last week due to research into side effects. For the time being, the vaccine has only been used in the United States. Total sales were up nearly 8 percent to $ 22.3 billion, helped by solid cancer drug sales. The J&J share rose slightly.
P&G, the parent company of brands such as Pampers, Ariel, Dreft, Braun and Gillette, sold more cleaning products in and around the home in the past quarter due to the corona crisis. However, P & G’s share price fell 1.1 percent.
Shortly after the start, the leading Dow Jones index recorded a minus of 0.4 percent at 33,948 points. The broad S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 4151 points, and the technology gauge Nasdaq dropped 0.2 percent to 13,887 points.
Defence concern Lockheed Martin also opened the books and lost 0.7 percent. Broadcaster Manpower (plus 5.2 percent) and medical supplier Abbott Laboratories (minus 3.3 percent) also published figures.
Tobacco manufacturers were again under pressure from reports that the US government considers reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes. For example, Philip Morris International, which also came up with figures, fell 1.2 percent. Altria lost 6.4 percent. On Monday, losses were also suffered by tobacco producers in New York.
Apple was a fraction lower. The technology group will hold its first product event of the year on Tuesday, in which the company is expected to show new iPads to the public.
