Close: Lackluster recovery try

The S&P 500 increased 0.2% on Wednesday in a volatile session in which the benchmark index traded between a 0.3% decline and 1.6% gain. The Nasdaq Composite (unch), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%), and Russell 2000 (-0.3%) closed mixed and little changed, also fading intraday gains.

Intraday highs were largely mechanical in the sense that the market tried to rally from an oversold condition, although some attributed good earnings news from the likes of Microsoft ( MSFT 283.22, +13.00, +4.8%), Visa ( V 214.11, +13.01, +6.5%), and T-Mobile US ( TMUS 129.84, +4.88, +3.9%) as an influential factor.

The whole earnings picture, when considering reactions and guidance, was somewhat mixed, though. Alphabet ( GOOG 2300.41, -89.71, -3.8%) and Boeing ( BA 154.46, -12.58, -7.5%) both struggled following their reports while Texas Instruments ( TXN 169.39, +0.95, +0.6%) issued downside Q2 guidance.

The S&P 500 communication services sector (-2.6%) was easily the worst-performing sector, as weakness in Alphabet spread over to Meta Platforms ( FB 174.95, -6.00, -3.3%) ahead of its earnings report after the close, and the bleeding continued in Netflix ( NFLX 188.54, -9.86, -5.0%).

Conversely, the information technology (+1.4%), materials (+1.5%), and energy (+1.5%) sectors each gained roughly 1.5%. The outperformance of the heavily-weighted technology sector overshadowed an underlying negative bias in the broader market: declining issues outpaced advancing issues at both the NYSE and Nasdaq.

Besides the mixed earnings picture, buying conviction was restrained by global growth concerns, the inability for the market to sustain a rebound rally, and weakening technical factors.

Elsewhere, the Treasury market saw modest selling pressure after two days of gains. The 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 2.57%, and the 10-yr yield increased five basis points to 2.82%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.7% to 102.97. WTI crude futures rose 0.3%, or $0.33, to $101.75/bbl.

Reviewing Wednesday’s economic data:

  • The Advance report for International Trade in Goods for March showed a deficit of $125.3 billion, versus a revised $106.4 billion (from $106.6 billion) in February. The Advance report for Retail Inventories for March rose 2.0%, and the Advance report for Wholesale Inventories for March rose 2.3%.
  • Pending home sales decreased 1.2% m/m in March (Briefing.com consensus -1.5%) following a revised 4.0% decline (from -4.1%) in February.
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index fell 8.3% following a 5.0% decline in the prior week.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the advance estimate for Q1 GDP and the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report on Thursday.

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.4% YTD
  • S&P 500 -12.2% YTD
  • Russell 2000 -16.1% YTD
  • Nasdaq Composite -20.2% YTD

Overseas:

  • Europe: DAX +0.3%, FTSE +0.5%, CAC +0.5%
  • Asia: Nikkei -1.2%, Hang Seng +0.1%, Shanghai +2.5%

Commodities:

  • Crude Oil +0.33 @ 101.75
  • Nat Gas +0.27 @ 7.06
  • Gold -11.10 @ 1890.20
  • Silver -0.08 @ 23.42
  • Copper +0.03 @ 4.47
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If you need help gathering them all, let me know.
I honestly don’t know myself, lmao. We’ll figure it out if need be.

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