Reuters
- US stocks close Wednesday's session on mixed footing.
- The S&P 500 was flat, and tech stocks pushed through rising bond yields.
- Tesla cut prices ahead of results, and Morgan Stanley pulled back after its earnings report.
US stocks finished mixed on Wednesday as investors sifted through financial updates from banks while monitoring a climb in bond yields stoked by global inflation concerns.
After starting in the red, Wall Street's major indexes split directionally, though the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were virtually flat. The Dow industrials were hurt in part as Disney shares fell. The entertainment heavyweight is expected to start cutting thousands of jobs next week, Bloomberg reported.
During the session, Tesla declined after issuing a new round of price cuts before releasing first-quarter earnings late Wednesday. Meanwhile, Netflix shares fell after mixed results from the streaming service. It also said its crackdown on password-sharing is coming soon.
Morgan Stanley shares fell as the investment bank posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit but dealmaking at the firm slowed. Among regional banks, Western Alliance surged after it said deposits stabilized following industry turmoil in the wake of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month.
First-quarter earnings from large-cap financial firms have come in reasonably strong but investors "should not get a false sense of security" from the early reports, Bryan Reilly, portfolio manager at CIBC Private Wealth US, said in a note Wednesday.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 4,154.52, dow 0.01%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,897.01, down 0.23% (79.62 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 12,157.23, up 0.03%
"Weakening in retail sales, industrial production, and services as the first quarter progressed has shown that the Fed rate hikes have begun to bite at economic growth. That slower growth coupled with higher costs remaining sticky for most companies has forced a rethinking of the path of corporate profit margins," Reilly added.
In the bond market, yields rose along with UK sovereign yields after British inflation unexpectedly held above 10% as food prices rose in March.
With inflationary pressures still on the Federal Reserve's radar, the 2-year Treasury yield rose 7 basis points to a five-week high of 4.26%.
Here's what else is happening today:
- Bed Bath & Beyond soared following reports the housewares retailer is preparing for bankruptcy.
- Home prices saw the largest drop since 2012 as the banking crisis hit demand.
- Nvidia stock could bulk up more than 20% as climbing AI workloads could strengthen sales, said Bank of America.
- The investor behind Dominion Voting Systems logged a 1,400% return after Fox News settled its defamation lawsuit for $788 million.
- Wall Street is turning more bullish on China's economy as the end of zero-COVID rules boosts growth.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $79.14 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 2% to $83.11.
- Gold dipped 0.6% to $2,008 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield gained 3 basis points to 3.60%.
- Bitcoin gave up 3.7% to trade at $29,283.12.