U.S. Stocks Bounce Back Near Unchanged Line After Seeing Initial Weakness

Stocks moved to the downside at the start of trading on Wednesday but have regained some ground over the course of the session. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session and are now lingering near the unchanged line.

Currently, the major averages are narrowly mixed. While the Dow is up 62.16 points or 0.2 percent at 38,946.42, the S&P 500 is down 0.73 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 5,186.97 and the Nasdaq is down 16.37 points or 0.1 percent at 16,316.19.

The initial weakness on Wall Street partly reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following yesterday’s remarks by Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari.

Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an “extended period” and said he couldn’t rule out another rate increase.

The Federal Reserve is still widely expected to lower rates sometime in the third quarter, although traders seemingly took opportunity to cash in on some of the recent strength in the markets.

While the major averages ended Tuesday’s trading narrowly mixed, they all remain at their best levels in about a month.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with traders reluctant to make more significant moves amid another relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front.

A report on weekly jobless claims may attract attention on Thursday, while the University of Michigan is due to release its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in May on Friday.

Among individual stocks, shares of Uber Technologies (UBER) have moved sharply lower after the ride-hailing giant reported an unexpected first quarter loss on weaker than expected booking revenue.

Cloud communications company Twilio (TWLO) has also come under pressure after reporting first quarter results that exceeded estimates but providing disappointing second quarter revenue guidance.

Meanwhile, shares of Reddit (RDDT) have surged after the social media company reported a narrower than expected first quarter loss on revenues that beat expectations.

Ride-hailing company Lyft (LYFT) has also shown a strong move the upside after reporting first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.

Networking stocks have shown a strong move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index climbing by 1.1 percent.

Arista Networks (ANET) has helped lead the sector higher, surging by 6.8 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Telecom and gold stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, while housing and commercial real estate stocks have moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.6 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.6 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has advanced by 0.9 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving notably higher over the past several sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.9 basis points at 4.482 percent.

Check out our free forex signals
Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More
Avatar
RTT Staff Writer
Related Articles
Comments
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments