US close: Dow finishes higher on mixed day for Wall Street

dl wall street st new york city nyc nyse stock exchange ny dow jones nasdaq sp finance us usa united states of america — Wall StreetSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were mixed at the close on Wednesday, with the Dow clawing back some of the losses it recorded in a heavy sell-off on Tuesday.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.19% at 33,301.93, as the S&P 500 added 0.21% to 4,183.96, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.01%, or just 1.81 points, to 12,488.93.

The Dow closed 61.75 points higher on Wednesday, following heavy losses in the previous session as a result of a tech-led sell-off that has lasted much of the month.

“After yesterday’s rout US markets needed a breather and it got some strong updates from Microsoft and Visa, with the latter forecasting revenue to surpass pre-pandemic levels,” said AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

“With people able to travel and generally live their lives free of Covid restrictions over the last quarter, consumer spend has been ticking up.

“But belt-tightening is a worry and operational costs have also been heading in the wrong direction.”

Hewson added that shares in both Alphabet and Meta slipped as investors digested disappointing results from the former, and braced for a similar update from the latter.

“Robust ad spend is crucial for Meta’s success and the expectation is that if YouTube is feeling the pinch Meta won’t fare better.

“Marketing budgets are being pared back as companies adjust to the current situation.

“Not only are they having to think about their own financial health, but the reality is if consumers don’t have cash to spend there’s no point wasting money trying to tempt them.”

On the economic front, mortgage applications fell 8.3% in the week ended 22 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, marking a seventh-straight week of declines amid increased mortgage rates.

Elsewhere, an advance reading of March's goods trade balance revealed the US goods trade deficit increased to an all-time high of $125.3bn, according to the Census Bureau, up from a revised $106.3bn in February.

Imports surged 11.5% to a record $294.6bn, driven by purchases of industrial supplies, while exports went up 7.2% to a record $169.3bn, pushed up by sales of industrial supplies and capital goods.

Still on data, US retail inventories, excluding autos, increased to 2.30% in March, accelerating from a 1.50% advance in February, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau.

Finally, pending home sales fell for a tenth straight month in March, down 8.2% as pending home sales fell across all regions in the US, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Earnings from tech behemoth Microsoft were in focus, with the company closing up 4.18% after it posted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and also sounded an optimistic tone when discussing its outlook for the current quarter.

Elsewhere, Kraft Heinz beat on earnings and raised its full-year outlook, with the food conglomerate rising 1.35% by the closing bell.

On the downside, Google parent Alphabet slid 3.75% after it reported a 23% uptick in first quarter earnings, but said net profits had actually dropped to $16.4bn as YouTube advertising slowed.

Robinhood Markets was in the red by 4.9% after the retail broker warned that it would be cutting back on staff due to "duplicate roles and job functions".

Music streaming giant Spotify Technology tumbled 12.44% despite reporting that nearly all of its key metrics surpassed guidance in the first quarter, with total revenues increasing 24% to €2.66bn.

Boeing descended 7.53% following a big-time earnings miss, while Meta Platforms, Qualcomm, PayPal and Hertz were all set to publish their latest sets of numbers after the close.

Dow Jones - Risers

Visa Inc. (V) $214.11 6.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $283.22 4.81%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $174.68 2.70%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $213.96 1.74%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $65.56 0.78%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $121.24 0.60%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $301.59 0.55%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $173.55 0.52%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $67.45 0.12%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $313.23 0.04%