US markets end mostly in red on Wednesday

09 May 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following Tuesday's remarks by Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari. Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an extended period and said he couldn't rule out another rate increase. Traders were reluctant to make more significant moves amid quiet day on the U.S. economic front. A report on weekly jobless claims may attract attention on Thursday, while the University of Michigan is due to release its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in May on Friday. On the sectoral front, reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day. Networking stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index climbing by 1.1 percent.

Arista Networks (ANET) helped lead the sector higher, surging by 6.5 percent after reporting better than expected first quarter results. Tobacco and telecom stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while biotechnology and commercial real estate stocks moved to the downside. Among individual stocks, shares of Uber Technologies (UBER) moved sharply lower after the ride-hailing giant reported an unexpected first quarter loss on weaker than expected booking revenue. Cloud communications company Twilio (TWLO) also came under pressure after reporting first quarter results that exceeded estimates but providing disappointing second quarter revenue guidance.

Nasdaq fell 29.8 points or 0.18 percent to 16,302.76 and S&P 500 was down by 0.03 points to 5,187.67, while Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 172.13 points or 0.44 percent to 39,056.39.