Nasdaq ends down ahead of significant tech results; Fed will be the focus

Nasdaq ends down ahead of significant tech results; Fed will be the focus

Nasdaq ends down ahead of significant tech results; Fed will be the focus

After reaching a new intraday high, the S&P 500 finished nominally down, while the blue-chip Dow ended the day higher.

Tuesday saw losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq as investors anticipated big-name company reports and the Federal Reserve announced the date of its monetary policy meeting.

After reaching a new intraday high, the S&P 500 finished nominally down, while the blue-chip Dow ended the day higher.

Alphabet Inc.'s stock dropped during extended trading after the publication of the businesses' quarterly earnings releases.

According to Peter Tuz, head of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia, "there is a lot of apprehension about 'The Magnificent Seven's" earnings debut." "Shares have done incredibly perfectly and investors are feeling a bit of caution right now, and perhaps rightly so."

Economically delicate industries did worse than the overall market, such as Dow Transportation Chips and Small Cap.

The labor department's surprise spike in job openings suggests that the economy is too strong for the Federal Reserve to contemplate lowering its benchmark policy rate in March.

The Fed is anticipated to decide to maintain its benchmark interest rate at 5.25%–5.50% at the end of its policy meeting on Wednesday. We'll examine the statement that goes along with it and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's news conference afterwards for any hints about the amount and timing of rate cuts this year.

"I'm looking for language namely matches the story that we are hoping to see in 2024, that sometime in the second quarter we are going to witness the beginning of a rate reduction," Tuz said. "I'm getting to hear language that confirms what appears to be the most likely scenario."

The fourth quarter reporting season has accelerated, with 144 S&P 500 businesses having released statements so far. LSEG reports that 78% of them fared better than the consensus.

According to LSEG statistics, experts' overall projection for fourth-quarter profits is currently 5.5% compared to a year ago, up from 4.7% at the beginning of the month.

Following the delivery service's release of a dismal yearly income projection that put pressure on transportation, United Parcel Service saw an 8.2% decline in revenue.

Following the automaker's revised 2024 profit prediction and pledge to increase capital distributions to shareholders, General Motors saw a 7.8% increase in share price.

Ford Motor increased by 2.0%.

S&P 500 dropped to 4,924.97, down 0.06%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.35% to 38,467.31, while the Nasdaq Composite index decreased by 0.76% to 15,509.90.

Energy had a rise of 1.01%, while six of the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, headed by the financials, gained 1.2%.

Ahead of Wednesday's opening bell and its lower-than-expected quarterly profits announcement, shares of Boeing Co. fell 2.3%. After the cabin of the aircraft manufacturer's 737 MAX 7 burst in midair on January 5, the inquiry into the incident has become more intense.

Launch a new tab The S&P 500 banks index increased 2.1% as a result of Citigroup and Bank of America (BAC.N) rising more than 3% after Morgan Stanley's ratings upgrade.

The MSCI increased 9.3% as the global index provider reported greater earnings in the fourth quarter, while Johnson Controls declined 3.8% after the building materials supplier lowered its full-year profit prediction.

Following the server vendor's estimate of higher-than-expected quarterly revenues, Super Micro Computer saw a 3.5% increase.

In the S&P 500, advancing items exceeded falling stocks by a ratio of 1.2 to 1.

On the U.S. stock market, declining equities outweigh rising ones by a ratio of 1.4 to 1.

There were 80 new highs and no new lows for the S&P 500. There were 126 new highs and 75 new lows on the Nasdaq.

10.3 billion shares were traded on US exchanges, which is very low compared to the 11.5 billion shares that were exchanged on average during the previous 20 sessions.