Stan Choe
Wall Street is losing ground Wednesday under the weight of sinking technology stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 1 per cent, coming off its fourth drop in the last five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2 per cent.
The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures at 4.58am AEDT pointing to a fall of 50 points, or 0.6 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.8 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was trading at US69.77¢ at 5.15am AEDT.
Most stocks within the S&P 500 are rising, but falling technology stocks are weighing on the index for a second straight day. Advanced Micro Devices dropped 17.3 per cent even though the chip company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a forecast for revenue for the start of 2026 that topped analysts’ expectations, but that may not have been enough for investors after its stock had doubled over the last 12 months.
Tech stocks are broadly feeling pressure, even when they deliver stronger-than-expected profits. Big Tech stocks are facing criticism that their prices shot too high following their yearslong dominance of the market. Companies like software makers, meanwhile, are struggling with questions about whether they’ll lose in the future to competitors powered by artificial-intelligence technology.
Uber Technologies also dragged on the market after falling 3.7 per cent. The ride-hailing company reported results for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations. It also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that was below analysts’ expectations, while naming a new chief financial officer.
Some tech stocks nevertheless climbed, including a 7.7 per cent rise for Super Micro Computer. The company, which sells AI servers and other equipment, delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Eli Lilly rallied 9.3 per cent after topping analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It’s been riding big growth created by its Mounjaro and Zepbound products for diabetes and weight loss.
Match Group added 5 per cent after reporting better results than analysts expected and increasing its dividend. The company credited early signs of success from efforts to improve outcomes for users. It said a new facial verification feature for its Tinder service, for example, led to a sharp drop in interactions with “bad actors” where it’s been rolled out.
Walmart rose 1 per cent, a day after its total market value topped $US1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) for the first time. The retailer has broken into a small club dominated by Big Tech companies like Nvidia and Apple, which are each worth more than $US4 trillion.
Gold and silver prices trimmed earlier gains, and their moves remain tentative following their sudden washouts over the last week. Gold was nearly flat at $US4936.10 per ounce after earlier climbing back above the $US5000 mark. It’s been swinging sharply after roughly doubling in price over 12 months. After nearing $US5600 last week, it fell below $US4500 on Monday.
Silver’s price, which has been on an even wilder ride, rose 2.6 per cent.
Their prices had surged as investors looked for safer places to keep their money amid worries about everything from tariffs to a weaker US dollar to heavy debt loads for governments worldwide. But critics said their prices rose too far, too fast and were due for a pullback.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following a couple of mixed reports on the US economy.
One from ADP Research suggested that US employers outside of the government hired fewer workers last month than economists expected. A second from the Institute for Supply Management said that growth for health care, construction and other US services businesses continued in January at the same pace that economists expected.
That second report, though, also indicated that prices paid by US services businesses rose at a faster rate in January, which could be a discouraging signal for inflation.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.27 per cent from 4.28 per cent late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 per cent from its all-time high. Nintendo sank 11 per cent, even as the video game company reported strong profits. Investors and analysts are concerned about whether sales momentum can be maintained for the Switch 2 game console that was rolled out last year.
South Korea’s Kospi, meanwhile, climbed 1.6 per cent to another record.
AP
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