Tuesday was a disappointing day for the bulls.
After the Nasdaq opened at a record high with Alphabet’s (GOOGL) post-earnings boost pushing the tech sector higher, the tech index failed to hold onto its gains.
The Dow and S&P 500 also enjoyed considerably less positive closes than the market open portended, though both held onto gains.
On Wednesday, Facebook (FB) earnings after the bell will be the day’s most anticipated report, though Tuesday’s reaction to Alphabet’s report casts doubt on the notion that big tech earnings will help boost the market to new highs.
Inside Facebook’s earnings, investors will be paying particular attention to the company’s expenses — which it said were set to rise 50% this year — as well as results out of its Instagram segment. In a note to clients published Monday, Goldman Sachs analysts said at least one ad partner it talked to indicated that spending on Instagram was up 177% in the second quarter.
Impressions on the platform in the second quarter tripled over last year, an acceleration from the first quarter’s doubling of impressions.
This report from Facebook also comes after what continues to be a rocky period for the company on its main platform, with the latest media scrutiny into its handling of the main News Feed product focusing on Facebook’s inability and seeming disinterest in rooting out conspiracy theorists.
Outside of Facebook, Wednesday will be a very busy day for corporate results with Boeing (BA), General Motors (GM), Coca-Cola (KO), UPS (UPS), and GrubHub (GRUB) the notable reporters before the market open.
And after the market close, Facebook earnings will also be accompanied by results from PayPal (PYPL), Ford (F), Visa (V), Gilead (GILD), Qualcomm (QCOM), Mondelez (MDLZ), and Mattel (MAT).
Economic data set for release on Wednesday include the June report on new home sales, which are expected to fall 2.9% from the prior month.
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Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland
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