The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged lower on Wednesday as investors assessed mixed earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet ahead of a Federal Reserve rate hike that could push borrowing costs to their highest since the global financial crisis.
Microsoft eased 3.3% after laying out an aggressive spending plan to meet demand for its new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered services. The Windows maker still surpassed estimates for quarterly revenue and profit.
On the other hand, Alphabet gained 6.7% after the Google parent’s second-quarter profit exceeded Wall Street expectations on steady demand for its cloud services and a rebound in advertising.
Five of the main S&P 500 sectors declined, with tech stocks leading losses, while communication services housing Alphabet gained 2.9% in early trading.
“Artificial intelligence has really taken the front of the stage from last quarter’s earning season,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.
“But I believe some companies have gotten a little bit ahead of themselves and are overpromising what artificial intelligence can do for their companies in such a short time span.”
Meta Platforms rose 1.3% after Alibaba’s cloud unit said it would support the Facebook owner’s open-source AI model, Llama. Meta is also expected to report quarterly results after the bell.
The Fed is expected to deliver a 25-basis point interest rate hike later in the day, though there is less clarity over what the central bank will do at its subsequent meetings.
“The key question is what comes next. The dot plot still shows room for another 25bp hike this year, but recent inflation figures don’t signal urgency,” said Stefan Koopman, senior macro strategist at Rabobank.
At 9:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 9.99 points, or 0.03%, at 35,448.06, the S&P 500 was down 5.08 points, or 0.11%, at 4,562.38, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 22.51 points, or 0.16%, at 14,122.04.
The Dow see-sawed and was last marginally higher, underpinned by a 5.8% gain in Boeing after the planemaker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, along with a surge in cash flows.
Snap sank 19.6% after the photo messaging app owner gave a weaker-than-expected third-quarter forecast as it struggles to compete with tech giants for advertising dollars.
Thermo Fisher Scientific shed 2.2% as the medical equipment maker cut its annual profit forecast, while Union Pacific gained 11.2% after the railroad operator appointed Jim Vena as chief executive to succeed Lance Fritz.
Wells Fargo climbed 2.2% after the bank’s board authorized a new share buyback program of up to $30 billion.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 37 new lows.
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