Company earnings season for the first quarter is “off to a decent start,” according to RBC Capital Markets.
The tone of companies’ commentary has been “fairly balanced, with acknowledgement of resiliency and bright spots along with acknowledgement of problems that have emerged and worries on the C suite’s mind,” said Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC, in a research note Monday. “Consumers have been described as normalizing, healthy, stable, and careful.”
Read: Investors scour markets for recession signs. Here’s what this closely watched credit gauge says. The consumer-discretionary sector SP500.25 has suffered the next biggest losses so far in April, down 2% based on midday trading Monday. By contrast, shares of consumer-staples companies SP500.30 have climbed 2.7% so far this month, while the industrials sector has slipped 0.7% at last check, FactSet data show.