Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
It’s a volatile day on Wall Street as tech stocks reacted to disappointing quarterly earnings ahead of the highly anticipated Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
What Happened: In the lead-up to the FOMC meeting — scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 31 — the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 1.4%. This marked its worst session since early January.
Here’s a breakdown:
- Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is down 6%, due to disappointing results for the quarter ending in December.
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), a prominent player in the artificial intelligence space, also fell on softer-than-expected results.
- The broader market, as measured by the S&P 500 index, fell 0.9%.
- The pace of job growth slowed from 158,000 in December to 107,000 this month (below the expected 147,000), according to the ADP National Employment Report.
- The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the market fear gauge or VIX, rallied 8%. Bonds gained ground as investors adopted a more cautious approach. Treasury yields fell across all key maturities, with the 10-year yield falling below the 4% mark.
- The popular iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) soared 1%.
- On the banking front, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) fell 3.7% on track for the worst session since May 2023 amid disappointing results from New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:NYCB).
Wednesday's Performance In Major Indices, ETFs
| Dow Jones | 38,466.45 | 0.0% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,980.19 | -0.8% |
| S&P 500 | 4,885.26 | -0.8% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 17,252.38 | -1.3% |
| CBOE VIX | 14.38 | 8.0% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.9% lower to $486.56, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) held steady at $384.46 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 1.4% to $419.13, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the defensive Utilities SPDR Select Sector Fund (NYSE:XLU) outperformed, up 0.7%. Both the Technology SPDR Select Sector Fund (NYSE:XLK) and the Communication Services SPDR Select Sector Fund (NYSE:XLC) underperformed, down 1.6%.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
- Alphabet Inc. fell 6.6% on its worst session in three months. While beating both revenue and earnings estimate, the tech giant delivered weaker-than-expected advertising revenue.
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell 3.1% after broadly matching Street’s earnings estimate, but issuing a first quarter 2024 guidance below expectations. Chipmaker peers such as NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 1.9% and 2% respectively.
- Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT) fell 1.4%, despite reporting stronger-than-expected results last quarter and receiving several price-target boosts from sell-side analysts.
- New York Community Bancorp Inc. plummeted 35% on its worst day since the company went public in 1993. The regional bank reported a loss last quarter, largely disappointing estimates of a positive net income, and revenue also surprised to the downside.
- Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) rallied nearly 7% after reporting stronger-than-expected results, with the company CEO prioritizing the need to address safety and quality issues above all during the call with investors.
- Starbucks Corp. (NYSE:SBUX), down 0.7%
- Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ), down 1.7%
- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC), down 3.3%
- Electronic Arts EA Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), up 1.1%
- Mastercard Corp. (NYSE:MA), up 1.1%
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO), down 3.8%
- Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX), up 2.9%
- Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL), down 0.2%
- Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), up 1.9%
- Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP), up 2.8%.
Now Read: Microsoft Enjoys ‘First-Mover Advantage’ As AI Revenue Doubles, 5 Analysts Explore Q2 Print
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