Nasdaq falls ahead of Alphabet, Microsoft earnings

On Jan 30, 2024

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the afternoon losses on Tuesday as investors await Microsoft to kick off Big Tech results as earnings season roars into gear.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after Monday’s winning session lifted the benchmark to another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) reversed earlier losses to inch up about 0.1%.

The “Magnificent Seven” tech megacaps — apart from Tesla (TSLA) — are expected to do much of the heavy lifting for the S&P 500 this earnings season after powering the recent stock rally. Investors will scour Microsoft’s (MSFT) report for signs of more payoff from its vast investments in AI. Results from Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) are also due after the bell on Tuesday, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) are on Thursday’s docket.

General Motors (GM) led out the flood of earnings Tuesday with results that handily beat expectations for sales and revenue in a fourth quarter marked by strikes. GM shares jumped about 7% in midday trading.

Meanwhile, investors are counting down to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The question of whether cuts will happen in March or May is currently the subject of intense debate on Wall Street as markets hang near records.

Live4 updates

Tue, January 30, 2024 at 5:31 PM GMT

Nasdaq drops ahead of Big Tech earnings

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) saw losses accelerate on Tuesday as investors await key earnings reports from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

The Nasdaq dropped more than 0.7% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) bounced around with the benchmark index dropping roughly 0.1% as the Dow inched up about 1%.
Tue, January 30, 2024 at 4:08 PM GMT

JetBlue, Spirit seek expedited appeal of blocked merger

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) are filing for an expedited appeal of a court ruling that blocked their $3.8 billion merger.

Shares of Spirit rose nearly 4% in early trading while JetBlue fell 6%.

“The appeal is a formality of what investors already expected,” Seaport Research Partners analyst Dan McKenzie told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday following the news.

“I think the airlines have a really good case,” he said, noting both JetBlue and Spirit are not profitable airlines. “The airlines that perform best are the airlines that are the most profitable. …When you’re losing money it’s very hard to provide a competitive product.”

Looking ahead, McKenzie said JetBlue will likely rely on its strong presence in the New York City and Florida markets, but that the airline will ultimately survive.

“JetBlue losses are narrow enough that they can reverse those,” he said. Still, the company is “having to reinvent itself and that’s proven to be a really painful process in the near-term.”
Tue, January 30, 2024 at 3:13 PM GMT

Consumer confidence hits highest level since Dec. 2021

In a busy week for the stock market, early readings on the economy are showing continued signs of resilience.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence came in at a reading of 114.8 in January, up from 108 last month and in line with economists expectations. It marked the highest reading for the index since December 2021.

Elsewhere in economic data, the the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released Tuesday revealed the US labor market ended December with 9.03 million job openings, an increase from the 8.93 seen last month and above Wall Street estimates for 8.8 million.

The print marks a noted a reversal from November’s report which had shown fewer openings and signs of the “better balance” between supply and demand that Fed chair Jerome Powell has often mentioned.
Tue, January 30, 2024 at 2:38 PM GMT

Stocks take breather

US stocks opened moderately lower on Tuesday — just ahead of a slew of Big Tech earnings.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after delivering another all-time high on Monday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 0.1%.