US corporations’ quarterly earnings are set to register their first decline in more than two years, in what will be a challenge to the stock market’s stellar start to 2012.
The S&P 500 last week rose above 1,400 – a level not seen since June 2008. It has gained more than 11 per cent this year.
That run has coincided with solid earnings reports for the last quarter of 2011. But rising commodity prices, notably oil, are compressing profit margins for many companies, including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Carnival Corporation.
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