Stocks Rebound As Investor Focus Shifts To Earnings, Bitcoin Tops $1 Trillion Value: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

The U.S. stock market attempted a rebound following Tuesday’s declines, which were sparked by a higher-than-expected inflation report in January, as investors refocused on corporate earnings.

More than two-thirds of S&P 500 companies reported thus far, with 75% of them exceeding earnings-per-share expectations and 65% reporting positive revenue, according to Factset data.

Wednesday’s recovery impacted nine out of eleven S&P 500 sectors, with energy and consumer staples lagging behind.

The S&P 500 was up 0.4% as of noon trading in New York, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 surged by 0.5%.

Small-cap stocks, represented by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, rallied by 1.7% after experiencing a 4% drop on Tuesday.

Treasury yields were lower across all maturities amid dovish Fed remarks. The 10-year yield dropped 7 basis points to 4.25% after Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee stated that even if inflation comes in a bit higher over next few months, it would still be consistent with the path back to the 2% target.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD continued to dominate headlines, as the largest cryptocurrency surpassed a $1 trillion market value, with its price climbing above $51,000.

In the commodities market, U.S. natural gas prices declined for the eighth consecutive day amid milder weather forecasts and elevated stocks, reaching lows last observed in July 2020.

Wednesday's Performance In Major Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.4% higher to $495.55, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA held steady at $382.73 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rose 0.5% to $430.34, according to Benzinga Pro data.

The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI, outperformed, up 1.1%, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP was the laggard, down 0.6%.

Industry-wise, solar stocks, as tracked by the Invesco Solar ETF TAN, rallied by 3.5%, after dropping nearly 6% on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• Uber Technologies Inc. UBER surged 11% on stronger-than-expected results last quarter, claiming the top performance for the day among S&P 500 stocks.
• Akamai Technologies Inc. AKAM fell 9% as revenue missed the Street’s forecasts. The company was Wednesday’s worst performer within the S&P 500.
• Other companies reacting to earnings were MGM Resorts International MGM, down 8%, IQVIA Holdings Inc. IQV, up 10.5%, Charler River Laboratories International Inc. CRL, up 9.2%, The Kraft Heinz Company KHC, down 5.9%, Welltower Inc. WELL, up 7%, Airbnb Inc. ABNB, down 2.7%, Lyft Inc. LYFT, up 33%, QuidelOrtho Corp. QDEL, down 30%.
• Crypto-related stocks such as Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA and Riot Platforms Inc. RIOT rallied, 13%, 10% and 9% respectively.

Read now: ‘It’s Not That Decentralized’: SEC Chair Gary Gensler Hesitant On Bitcoin, Calls It ‘Just An Accounting Ledger’

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