Helping to limit the losses for indexes was AT&T, which rose 4.6% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected
Texas Instruments climbed 4% after the semiconductor company reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. While revenue from industrial users declined from the prior quarter, CEO Haviv Ilan said all other end markets grew.
Northern Trust rallied 7% after likewise topping analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue in the latest quarter.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 53.78 points to 5,797.42. The Dow dropped 409.94 to 42,514.95, and the Nasdaq composite fell 296.47 to 18,276.65.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose again to 4.23% from 4.21% late Tuesday and from just 4.08% Friday.
Treasury yields have been climbing after a raft of reports have shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. That’s good news for Wall Street, because it bolsters hopes that the economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without the painful recession that many had worried was inevitable.
Traders are now largely expecting the Fed to cut its main interest rate by half a percentage point more through the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. A month ago, some of those same traders were betting on the federal funds rate ending the year as much as half a percentage point lower than that.
In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% despite a surge for Tokyo Metro Co.’s stock in Japan’s largest market debut since SoftBank Corp. went public in 2018.
Chinese markets rose for a second day after the central bank cut its one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rates on Monday. Indexes rose 1.3% in Hong Kong and 0.5% in Shanghai, while European markets were modestly lower.
Wall Street has retreated further from its record highs. Credit: AP
The Dow Jones was down 431 points, or 1 per cent, as of 1:11 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7 per cent lower as Big Tech stocks were among the market’s heaviest weights.
The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures at 5.04am AEDT pointing to a fall of 36 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.1 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar lost ground. It was 0.8 per cent lower at 66.38 US cents at 6.36am AEDT.
McDonald’s helped pull the market lower and dropped 5.3 per cent after federal health officials linked its Quarter Pounder burgers with an E. coli outbreak that’s affected at least 49 people in 10 states. Investigators are still trying to find what specific ingredient is contaminated, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said McDonald’s stopped using fresh slivered onions and quarter pound beef patties in several states while the investigation is ongoing.
Coca-Cola fell 2 per cent even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company benefited from higher prices for its products, but a lot of focus was on how much product the company shipped during the quarter, and that fell short of some estimates.
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Boston Scientific also weakened despite delivering better-than-expected quarterly results. It fell 2.1 per cent after saying it’s temporarily pausing its trial of a treatment for persistent atrial fibrillation to assess “a few unanticipated observations.” The medical technology company said it intends to resume enrolment in the near term.
Boeing sank 2.4 per cent in what could be one of the most consequential days in years for the troubled aerospace manufacturer.
The company reported a loss of more than $US6 billion ($9.1 billion) for the latest quarter, as it waits to see the results of a vote by machinists later in the day that could end a strike that’s crippled aircraft production for more than a month. Boeing stock has lost 40 per cent this year.
Helping to keep the losses for indexes in check was AT&T, which rose 3.2 per cent after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected
Texas Instruments climbed 3.6 per cent after the semiconductor company reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. While revenue from industrial users declined from the prior quarter, CEO Haviv Ilan said all other end markets grew.
Northern Trust rallied 7.8 per cent after likewise topping analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue in the latest quarter.
U.S. stocks have generally been slowing their record-breaking momentum this week under increasing pressure from rising Treasury yields.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose again Wednesday to 4.23 per cent from 4.21 per cent late Tuesday and from just 4.08 per cent Friday. Higher yields for Treasurys can make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks, which critics say already look too expensive after they rose faster than corporate profits.
Treasury yields have been climbing after a raft of reports have shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. That’s good news for Wall Street, because it bolsters hopes that the economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without the painful recession that many had worried was inevitable.
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Traders are now largely expecting the Fed to cut its main interest rate by half a percentage point more through the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. A month ago, some of those same traders were betting on the federal funds rate ending the year as much as half a percentage point lower than that.
In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8 per cent despite a surge for Tokyo Metro Co.’s stock in Japan’s largest market debut since SoftBank Corp. went public in 2018.
Chinese markets rose for a second day after the central bank cut its one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rates on Monday. Indexes rose 1.3 per cent in Hong Kong and 0.5 per cent in Shanghai, while European markets were modestly lower.
AP
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