Stocks finished mixed Wednesday, while the dollar inched lower against its global peers and Treasury yields retreated, as markets reacted to an underwhelming corporate earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 9 points, or 0.03%, to 33,734, while S&P 500 slipped 0.02% and the tech-focused Nasdaq lost 0.18%.
Microsoft offered a softer-than-expected profit forecast, which clouded an otherwise solid December quarter earnings report. It followed muted updates across the industrial, tech and consumer sectors Tuesday.
Boeing, AT&T, Abbott Labs (ABT) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) also reported earnings this morning.
After the bell, Tesla posted better-than-expected results. IBM also came in ahead of estimates, but announced plans to cut several thousand employees.
Prior to the start of the week, analysts had forecast that collective S&P 500 earnings would fall 2.9% from last year to a share-weighted $443.4 billion, before recording a modest 0.1% expansion over the three months ending in March.
That calculus may change, however, as more and more companies cite economic uncertainty, persistent inflation and a pullback in consumer spending as headwind to their near-term profit forecasts.
In concert, Treasury bonds yields traded firmly lower heading into the Wednesday session, following the strongest 2-year bond auction in more than two years yesterday and concerns that the U.S. may slip into recession over the first half of this year.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were lower in New York trading at 3.451% while 2-year notes fell to 4.133%. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a baskets of its global peers, was marked 0.26% lower at 101.66.
Boeing (BA) shares gained 0.33% after it posted a surprise fourth quarter loss but noted its first positive free-cash flow tally in more than four years, and reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance.
AT&T Inc. (T) surged 6.6% after it posted better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings with a muted near-term outlook while adding that it plans to pay down debt as a top priority after meeting dividend payments.
Tesla (TSLA) shares, meanwhile, gained 0.4% as investors looked with caution towards the carmaker's pivotal fourth quarter earnings report after the close of trading, with focus likely to center on the impact of recent cost cuts to its impressive profit margins.
Fox Corp (FOXA) shares were 2.3% higher after billionaire Rupert Murdoch scrapped plans to merge the broadcaster with News Crop. (NWSA) following criticism from key shareholders.
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 slipped 0.03% by the close of trading amid a mixed December quarter earnings season and economic activity data showing business sentiment in Germany, the region's biggest economy, picked-up momentum over the month of January.
In Asia, the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index touched a fresh seven-month high in early trading, although markets in China remain closed for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.35%.
