The start of the first-quarter earnings reporting season this week is set to challenge the US equity market, with analysts predicting that profits will fall in most sectors.
Average earnings for the first quarter are seen as being flat to slightly negative, with growth expected to accelerate later this year and into 2013. Only three of the 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 index – industrials, financials and technology – are expected to post earnings growth for the first quarter.
Early earnings results could prove crucial to determining the market’s direction. US stocks dropped 0.7 per cent last week – their worst week since mid-December – but the S&P 500 remains up more than 11 per cent since January.
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