Earnings from Alphabet and Microsoft were the talk of the town today
Stocks struggled for direction on Wednesday, trading on both sides of the aisle before settling mostly lower. Alphabet's (GOOGL) earnings miss, combined with Microsoft's (MSFT) sales warning, weighed heavily on the tech sector, culminating in steep losses for the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The S&P 500 settled sharply lower as well, joining the latter in snapping a three-day win streak. Meanwhile, the Dow finished just above breakeven despite being up 300 points at its session highs, but still extended its rally for a fourth consecutive session.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 31,839.11) added 2.4 points, or 0.01% for the day. Visa (V) led the gainers, adding 4.6%, while Boeing (BA) paced the laggards with an 8.8% loss.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,830.60) shed 28.5 points, or 0.7% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 10,970.99) fell 228.1 points, or 2% for the session.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 27.28) fell 1.2 points, or 4.2% for the session.
5 Things to Know Today
- The U.S. Army missed its 2022 recruitment goal by 25% and cut total force projections for 2022 by 10,000, as it struggles to recruit in a tighter labor market. (CNBC)
- Kanye West has lost billionaire status, after Adidas ended a partnership with the rapper that accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth over anti-Semitic remarks. (MarketWatch)
- What caused the Alphabet stock plummet.
- Microsoft stock brushed off an earnings win after a sales warning.
- Is it finally time to target this steel stock?
Gold Prices Settle at Roughly 2-Week High
Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, thanks to a weekly drop of 1.5 million barrels in U.S. gas supplies, as well as weakness in the U.S. dollar. November-dated crude added $2.59, or 3%, to finish at $87.91 per barrel.
A weaker U.S. dollar also helped gold finish higher, while cooling Treasury yields also helped the yellow metal nab its best settlement in roughly two weeks. December-dated gold rose $11.20, or 0.7%, to close at $1,669.20 an ounce.