Stock Market News for Apr 28, 2022
U.S. stocks tried to stage a comeback on Wednesday after ending sharply lower the day before, with the Dow and S&P 500 finishing with modest gains as investors digested mixed quarterly results from a batch of companies amid growing concerns of rising interest rates and economic slowdown. The Nasdaq closed at its low of 2022.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 0.2% or 61.75 points to close at 33,301.93 points. The blue-chip index at one time had hit a high of 33,697.18 points.
The S&P 500 gained 0.2% or 8.76 points to finish at 4,183.96 points. Tech, materials and energy stocks were the best performers.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each gained 1.5%. However, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) declined 2.2%. Six of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid less than 0.1% or 1.81 points to end at 12,488.93 points recording its lowest close in 2022.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 5.73% to 31.60. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.26-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.44-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 12.1 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 11.7 billion.
Market Volatility Continues on Multiple Worries
Stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday as all stocks tried to rebound from Tuesday’s bloodbath that saw the Dow plummeting more than 800 points, while the Nasdaq ended at its lowest level in 2022. However, it was a choppy trading session with major indexes swinging between gains and losses as they scrambled for direction.
Investors digested quarterly earnings reports from a batch of companies that came up with mixed results. Shares of Microsoft Corporation MSFT gained 4.8% after the tech giant reported third-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings of $2.22 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.18 per share.
However, Google parent Alphabet, Inc.’s GOOGL shares fell 3.7% after the company reported first-quarter 2022 earnings of $24.62 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $25.70 per share.
Energy companies were big winners on Wednesday. Shares of Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH jumped 7.7%. Enphase Energy has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
This is a busy week on the earnings front and investors are keeping a close watch on the other big tech companies like Apple, Inc. AAPL and Meta Platforms, Inc. FB that are scheduled to report their quarterly results this week and early next week.
However, there are other concerns among investors that are unsettling markets. Investors are worried about the risk of steeper rate hikes on the economy as the Fed has already indicated a rate hike by 50 basis points in its May meeting.
Also, geopolitical concerns arising from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and largescale lockdown in China owing to surging COVID-19 cases have raised worries of an economic slowdown, which is taking a toll on markets.
Economic Data
In economic data released on Wednesday, U.S. economic trade deficit in goods increased 1.7% in March to hit a record $125.3 billion.
Pending home sales, a leading indicator of the U.S. homebuilding activity and market, fell 1.2% in March, recording its fifth straight month of decline.
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