Stocks Closed Higher Yesterday As Conflict Fears Ease Stocks closed higher yesterday with the major indexes erasing most of the previous day's losses. (And in the Nasdaq's case, all of them and more.) Yesterday was day 5 of the conflict with Iran. While Iran continues to fire missiles and drones at others in the region, the U.S. and Israel continue to pursue their military campaign with success. It's still very dangerous. And both the U.S. and Israel are urging citizens to leave countries across the Middle East. But from a military standpoint, it all appears to be going better than expected and ahead of schedule. And that has eased fears of a protracted and widening conflict. Yesterday's MBA Mortgage Applications were up 11.0% w/w with purchases up 6.1%, and refi's up 14.3%. The PMI Composite report showed the Composite Index at 51.9 vs. last month's 53.0. The Services Index came in at 51.7 vs. last month's 52.7 and views for 52.3. The ISM Services Index rose to 56.1 vs. last month's 53.8 and estimates for 53.6. The Beige Book report showed 8 of the 12 districts expanding modestly or moderately, while the other 4 showed activity as flat, slight or modest. It also reflected stable, albeit cautious consumer and business demand. The labor market was steady. But inflation was persistent. All in all, it showed a stable economy. Yet uncertainty remains. And the ADP Employment report showed private payrolls increasing by 63,000 in February vs. 43,000 expected. But the jobs report everybody is really waiting for is Friday's Employment Situation report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The consensus is calling for 60,000 new jobs being created in February (65K in the private sector and -5K in the public sector), with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.4% from last month's 4.3%. In the meantime today, we'll get Weekly Jobless Claims, the Productivity and Costs report, and Import and Export Prices. After the close yesterday, Broadcom reported earnings and posted a positive EPS surprise of 0.49%, and a positive sales surprise of 0.13%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 28.1% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 29.4%. They also raised their Q2 revenue guidance by 7% above estimates. CEO Hock Tan noted that AI revenue last quarter had more than doubled from last year (up 106%), and that it was "driven by robust demand for custom AI accelerators and AI networking." They were up 1.18% in the regular session before earnings, and another 0.50% in after-hours trade following earnings. We also heard form Veeva Systems after the close, and they reported a positive EPS surprise of 7.29%, and a positive sales surprise of 3.35%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 18.4%, and a sales growth of 16.0%. They also raised their midpoint revenue guidance for next quarter by 1.01% above estimates. They were up 1.38% in the regular session, and soared by more than 11% in after-hours. Even though earnings season is 'officially' over, there's still more companies set to report this week, with another 231 companies on deck for today, including Costco, Alibaba, Marvell Technology, Kroger, and Samsara to name a handful. Markets are still down for the week with two more days to go. But with worst-case scenarios surrounding the Iran conflict looking less likely, and best-case scenarios looking better each day, the market can get back to focusing on the economy and corporate earnings. And that story is one of resilience and growth. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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