US stock indexes were mixed on Wednesday amid uneven earnings reports by leading US companies. Gains in the healthcare, financials and utilities sectors led shares higher, while losses in the consumer services, technology and consumer goods sectors led shares lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.71% to 35,160.79 points. The S&P 500 lost 0.06% and closed at 4,459.45 points. The NASDAQ Composite decreased by 1.22% to 13,453.07 points.
Stock movers
On the DJIA, the best performing stocks of the session were International Business Machines (+7.10%), Procter & Gamble Company (+2.66%), and Home Depot Inc (+2.38%). The worst performing stocks were Walt Disney Company (-5.56%), Salesforce.com Inc (-2.70%), and Boeing Co (-1.31%). On the S&P 500, the best performers were M&T Bank Corp (+8.83%), International Business Machines (+7.10%), and HCA Holdings Inc (+5.04%). The worst performers were Netflix Inc (-35.12%), Match Group Inc (-9.89%), and Enphase Energy Inc (-8.73%). According to financial data provider FactSet, 12% of companies on the S&P 500 have already published their first-quarter results. 80% of these reports exceeded market expectations. On the NASDAQ Composite, Clarus Therapeutics Holdings Inc (+43.45%), GWG Holdings Inc (+38.50%), and Borqs Technologies Inc (+31.11%), led the upside on Wednesday. Aterian Inc (-20.51%) and Mullen Automotive Inc (-16.57%) suffered the biggest losses. On the NYSE, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by 2,071 to 1,129, while 125 ended unchanged. On the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, 1,941 stocks fell and 1,940 advanced, while 215 ended unchanged. The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, decreased by 4.91% to 20.32 points.
Growth and decline factors
The US stock market made sizeable gains early this week thanks to positive corporate earning reports. Despite monetary tightening, the highest inflation rate in decades, and persistent price growth, US companies managed to advance in the first quarter. According to the latest data, US CPI increased by 8.5% in March year-over-year, reaching the highest level since winter of 1981. However, many investors and market experts assume the data indicates inflation is slowing down. On Wednesday, the yield of US Treasury bonds dropped to 2.836% from 2.911% on Tuesday. Earlier, the yield advanced for 3 straight days. US stock indexes are also under pressure from economic statistic data. The median sales price of houses in the United States has jumped to a record high of $375,300 due to rising mortgage rates and the shortage in the real estate market. According to the National Association of Home Builders, sales in the secondary market have fallen by 2.7% to 5,77 million, reaching the lowest level since 2020. Furthermore, house sales in February were revised downwards to 5.93 million from 6.02 million reported earlier. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve has published its Beige Book report on the state of the US economy. According to the Beige Book, the US economy increased in early spring at a modest pace amid rising inflation, falling COVID-19 cases, and geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe.
