Stocks move higher at the open as investors digest Microsoft, Alphabet earnings
Yahoo Finance Live’s Brad Smith breaks down how stocks are trading following the opening bell on Wednesday.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: I'm going to call this mixed, even though it's not, like the Dow and the S&P are down, just because there's such a big gap between NASDAQ futures, which are obviously getting a boost from the likes of Microsoft. The S&P to a smaller degree is, right? But the Dow and the S&P just aren't up that much. We have mixed earnings if you look-- if you kind of zoom out beyond super big tech, Brad.
BRAD SMITH: Right.
JULIE HYMAN: And so that's kind of our setup here this morning.
BRAD SMITH: Absolutely. I mean, it's a exciting week for tech, but that really just puts tech in focus, nothing else at this point in time.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. I guess so. I mean, we do have some other big companies that are reporting after the close that are reporting this morning that are giving us some insight as well, and numbers do continue to trend above estimates, although perhaps not as by as large a margin as usual. There we have the opening bell here this morning. And we're-- as we try to suss out kind of-- it's difficult maybe to figure out the themes, right, when it is so earnings-focused. But we do have things opening up here with the Dow up a little bit more than futures would have indicated about a 1/5 of 1%. The S&P up about a 1/3. And the NASDAQ up by nearly 1% here.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah. Absolutely. Taking a look at some of the gains here. Out of the gate, the Dow up by about a quarter of a percent now, as things in the opening cross commences here in New York. Taking a look at the past three days, we are still net lower for the Dow. We're down by about 6/10s of a percent. NASDAQ composite, you're seeing that over the past three days down by about 1.4%. However, here this morning, it's up by triple digits on a point basis, percentage basis. It's higher by 9/10s of and percent. In the S&P 500, you're seeing that down over the past three days by about one-and-a-quarter percent. But here this morning, up by about a quarter of a percent.
Let's take a look at some of that sector activity. As we mentioned, it looks like some strong activity coming into the start of today's trade for technology. That's up by about 1.9% for that sector. At least of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, that is clearly far and away leading the pack right now. It's not even close. It's like Usain Bolt and me running after him. And XLY, consumer discretionary, that's up by about half and a percent. Then bringing up the caboose here, back to the pack, you've got health care, that's down by about 1% here. Let's also take a look at the tech heavy NASDAQ, since that was the biggest gainer here.
Look at this move in Microsoft at the start of today's trade. You're seeing that higher by 7.3%, that on the back of the earnings and a positive call that they had last night. Also, interesting to track Alphabets move. And here's why, because intraday, at least out of the gate this morning, it's only up by about 2/10s of a percent. This was higher on the immediate reaction when the earnings dropped by about four-and-a-half percent and, ultimately, kind of withered away some of those gains as the call went on. And I believe, by the time the call was done, those shares were only higher by about one-and-a-quarter percent in extended trading.
So here this morning, not seeing too much of a bid, it's up by about 2/10s of a percent. We'll see if it holds on to that. And no, it doesn't. It's down now by about 2/10s of a percent. Funny how things change.
JULIE HYMAN: I guess Microsoft is the Usain Bolt in that situation then.
BRAD SMITH: It is.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. It is. All right.