by If you are a stock market bull, you must have enjoyed Wednesday’s opening. It was the best part of the day.
Stocks soared to their highs of the day within half an hour of the open, and spent the rest of the day giving up all their gains.
At 10 a.m., the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up as much as 1.7%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.2%.
But steadily and surely, the gains evaporated completely. The Nasdaq closed down 1.1% at 16,195.81. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 5,199.50.
The Dow’s loss was 0.6%, but the loss per point was dramatic. The blue-chip index had risen 480 points but ended down 234 points, a swing of 714 points.
Related: Midday Prices: Super Micro Plummets; Apple Rises; Tesla, Rivian Fall
This is why the market lost its charm.
Technology stocks were weak. Supermicrocomputer (SMCI) maker of high-end servers that can handle the demands of AI applications, reported disappointing earnings, falling as much as 20% to $492.70. Dell Technologies (DELL) a Super Micro Competitor, fell 7.2%. Nvidia (NVDA) fell 5.1%. Intel fell 3.5%. Microsoft (MSFT) fell 0.3%. Apple (AAPL) however, rose by 1.3%.
Disney’s profit numbers were not impressive. Walt Disney (DIS) Shares fell 4.5% to $86.96. The company’s earnings were mixed. The entertainment giant reported its first-ever profit for its Disney+ streaming service, and CEO Bob Iger sees more profit to come. But the company said attendance at its theme parks was lower than expected.
More economic analyses:
Biotech companies have had a rough day. Dow component Amgen (AMGN) fell 5%. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell 1.3%.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Bond yields were higher. Bad for everyone, especially homebuyers. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 3.96% from 3.897% on Tuesday.
The culprit: An auction of 10-year bonds delivered higher-than-expected yields as bond investors worry about higher federal deficits regardless of who is elected president in November.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) fell 0.7% to 95.91. It is down just over 4% since hitting $99.94 on Monday.
Concerns about the economy. While it’s hard to find anyone who is certain that a serious recession is coming, uncertainty has crept into the conversations.
The immediate concern is the weekly initial jobless claims report due out Thursday. The consensus estimate is around 241,000 claims. A week ago, claims were at 249,000, while Wall Street was looking for 236,000.
Monday’s hangover continues. Finally, after Monday’s ugly slump, stocks are taking a while to stabilize, probably longer than investors and brokers would like.
A symptom of the discomfort was Wednesday’s decline. There was another sign on Tuesday when a huge rebound from Monday’s debacle was wiped out by about half.
A big question is whether the market will retest Monday’s lows before a real recovery can take place. The S&P 500 bottomed on Monday at 5,119.26
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
