Following impressive quarterly results from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT), which started this week’s major tech earnings extravaganza, U.S. markets ended neutral on Wednesday. A brand-new wave of worry about the state of regional banks impacted investors as well.
Due to the Wednesday decline in First Republic Bank’s (FRC) stock, the S&P 500 (GSPC) ended the day down 0.39%. The DJI, or Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell by 0.68%. After tech behemoths Microsoft and Alphabet both posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the most recent quarter after the close on Tuesday, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) was up 0.47%, erasing earlier gains.
But on Wednesday morning, UK regulators halted the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) by Microsoft because to concerns about possible competition. About 12% of Activision’s shares went down.
A 2% increase in search sales was reported in Alphabet’s first-quarter profits, which was far less than the similar periods from the previous two years. After being enhanced by AI, the Bing app’s downloads have quadrupled. On Wednesday afternoon, shares fell.
The equities surge this year has been driven by tech firms, but some analysts predict the sector may face selling pressure as it loses momentum. Investors are still worried that earnings growth estimates will be lower, which has led some market experts to predict a drop that has not yet occurred.
reported that as part of its rescue strategy, consultants supported possible buyers of fresh stock.
The KBW Regional Banking Index declined on Tuesday as a result of the sharp decline in First Republic, reaching its lowest point since November 2020.
On Tuesday, Visa (V) released financial results for its most recent quarter that exceeded top- and bottom-line projections and demonstrated the ongoing post-pandemic recovery in international travel.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey, mortgage applications to buy a property increased for the second time over the previous three weeks, indicating a stabilisation in the housing market. New contracts for passenger jets gave US manufactured product orders a boost in March, according to other statistics released on Wednesday, while business investment fell once more for the month.
In a separate development, Boeing (BA) failed Wall Street forecasts for its first quarter once more. Boeing made $1.27 per share on sales of $17.9 billion, compared to $2.75 per share on sales of $14 billion during the same period last year. But on Wednesday, the stock made a small gain.