U.S. Stocks Sharply Lower On Alphabet Results, Surge By Treasury Yields
Stocks have moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, more than offsetting the gains posted in the previous session. With the downward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fallen to their lowest levels in almost five months.
In recent trading, the major averages have seen further downside, falling to new lows for the session. The Nasdaq is down 321.59 points or 2.5 percent at 12,818.28 and the S&P 500 is down 61.95 points or 1.5 percent at 4,185.73, while the narrower Dow is down 109.66 points or 0.3 percent at 33,031.72.
The particularly steep drop by the Nasdaq partly reflects a negative reaction to quarterly results from Alphabet (GOOGL), with the Google parent plunging by 9.6 percent.
Shares of Google are under pressure after the company reported third quarter earnings that exceeded estimates but weaker than expected revenue from its cloud business.
A renewed increase by treasury yields is also weighing on the markets, with yields seeing further upside after the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial rebound in new home sales in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said new home sales soared by 12.3 percent to an annual rate of 759,000 in September after plunging by 8.2 percent to a revised rate of 676,000 in August.
Economists had expected new home sales to climb by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 680,000 from the 675,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the much bigger than expected increase, new home sales reached their highest annual rate since hitting 773,000 in February 2022.
Traders are also looking ahead to Thursday’s reports on third quarter GDP, durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims as well as Friday’s report on personal income and spending.
The personal income and spending report includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve and could significantly impact the outlook for interest rates.
Meanwhile, strong gain by Microsoft (MSFT) has helped limit the downside for the Dow, with the software giant jumping by 2.7 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal first quarter results.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks continue to see substantial weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 4.3 percent to a five-month intraday low.
Chipmaker Texas Instruments (TXN) is posting a steep loss after reporting mixed third quarter results and providing disappointing fourth quarter guidance.
Significant weakness has also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index. The index has also fallen to its lowest intraday level in almost five months.
Transportation stocks are also seeing considerable weakness in afternoon trading, with the Dow Jones Transportation Average tumbling by 2.4 percent.
Brokerage, biotechnology and commercial real estate stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.4 percent.
The major European markets also showed modest moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have slid more firmly into negative territory as the day has progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 11.1 basis points at 4.951 percent.
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