NEW YORK: On the heels of the S&P 500's best June performance in more than six decades, investors are anxious to see whether earnings can justify further gains as the largest U.S. companies open their books in the coming weeks.
The potential for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this year largely propelled June's gains, while recent developments on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan over the weekend offered fresh hope for investors that trade tensions may be easing. That would represent the lowest annual profit growth for S&P 500 companies since 2016, which included the tail end of a four-quarter profit decline and left earnings growth that year at just 1.4per cent, according to Refinitiv's data.
Apple Inc , in comments posted on a government website, said last month that proposed U.S. tariffs on goods from China, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs, will reduce the company's contributions to the U.S. economy and hurt its global competitiveness.