US markets end lower on rate jitters, earnings
US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as traders digested mixed corporate earnings and elevated Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.3 percent lower at 33,035. The S&P 500 shed 1.4 percent to 4,186, while the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 2.4 percent to 12,821. Shares in Microsoft meanwhile closed 3.1 percent higher as its results beat expectations. However, Google parent Alphabet fell 9.6 percent to end the day. The drop came as Alphabet's Google Cloud business missed consensus revenue expectations on slowing growth, casting a pall on results that otherwise beat earnings expectations overall. "Alphabet's earnings were certainly disappointing," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Microsoft did better than expected in cloud computing but the market is tending to follow (Alphabet's) comments," he added. "When you have a small group of stocks that are leading the market, that have such premium valuations, it's really difficult if they don't meet expectations," Sosnick noted. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note remained elevated after recently breaching the five percent level for the first time in 16 years. The surge has exacerbated worries that Federal Reserve interest rates will stay higher for longer, denting the growth outlook. Looking ahead, investors are keeping an eye on US gross domestic product figures due early Thursday, and results of tech giant Meta. (AFP)Wall Street stocks slid on Wednesday as traders digested mixed corporate earnings and elevated Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.3 percent lower at 33,035. The S&P 500 shed 1.4 percent to 4,186, while the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 2.4 percent to 12,821. Shares in Microsoft meanwhile closed 3.1 percent higher as its results beat expectations. However, Google parent Alphabet fell 9.6 percent to end the day. The drop came as Alphabet's Google Cloud business missed consensus revenue expectations on slowing growth, casting a pall on results that otherwise beat earnings expectations overall. "Alphabet's earnings were certainly disappointing," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Microsoft did better than expected in cloud computing but the market is tending to follow (Alphabet's) comments," he added. "When you have a small group of stocks that are leading the market, that have such premium valuations, it's really difficult if they don't meet expectations," Sosnick noted. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note remained elevated after recently breaching the five percent level for the first time in 16 years. The surge has exacerbated worries that Federal Reserve interest rates will stay higher for longer, denting the growth outlook. Looking ahead, investors are keeping an eye on US gross domestic product figures due early Thursday, and results of tech giant Meta. (AFP)