Shares on Wall Street closed off the lows on Wed, with the S&P 500 Index finishing around breakeven. Stocks recovered from early losses after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, which showed policymakers taking a wait-and-see attitude toward inflation and rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 54.57 pts or 0.16% lower to close at 34,934.27. The broader S&P 500 index rose 0.09%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.11%. The small cap Russell 2000 gained 0.14%.
Roblox (RBLX US, -26.51%) and Shopify (SHOP US, -16.04%) shares plunged on Wed, after they disappointed investors on earnings calls.
After the close, three tech giants reported earnings with beats across the board. In extended-hours trade, Cisco Systems (CSCO US, -0.04%) gained 3.5%, and Applied Materials (AMAT US, 0.8%) rose 2.33%. However, Nvidia’s (NVDA US, +0.06%) fell 2.68%, despite beating and providing a strong outlook.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped 0.52 basis points (bps) to 2.0382%.
The most actively traded US gold futures (Apr) contracts settled up $15.30, or 0.8%, at US$1,871.50/oz. March silver, which is the most actively traded silver futures, rose 26.3 cents, or 1.1%, to end at US$23.605/oz.
The most actively traded US gold futures (Apr) contracts settled up $15.30, or 0.8%, at US$1,871.50/oz. March silver, which is the most actively traded silver futures, rose 26.3 cents, or 1.1%, to end at US$23.605/oz.
The front-month Brent and WTI futures closed up $1.53 at US$94.81/bbl and $1.59 at US$93.66/bbl respectively
European equity markets finished lower on Wed. The UK FTSE lost 0.07%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.21%, while the German DAX retreated 0.28%.