U.S. stocks are showing resilience, with the S&P 500 aiming to snap its three-day losing streak by edging up 0.4% on Wednesday, buoyed by a mixed bag of earnings reports from major companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 95 points, while the Nasdaq composite also saw a 0.4% increase. United Airlines surged after surpassing analyst expectations with strong results for the beginning of the year, driven by robust demand from business travelers. Conversely, J.B. Hunt saw shares tumble over 7% as its first-quarter profit fell short of forecasts amid a 9% revenue decline from the same period last year.
In the bond market, which has been a key driver of recent market movements, Treasury yields edged down, alleviating some pressure on stocks.
In premarket trading, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose a little over 0.2%, signaling a positive start to the trading day.
United Airlines soared 5.3% in premarket trading after reporting a significantly smaller loss than expected for the first quarter. The company attributed the loss of $124 million to a three-week grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9s following an incident with an Alaska Airlines Max jetliner in January, resulting in a $200 million cost impact that turned a potential profit into a loss for the quarter.
On the other hand, J.B. Hunt shares plunged more than 7% after the trucking company’s first-quarter profit missed expectations, with revenue declining 9% year-over-year.
Tesla, after recent losses, saw a slight uptick of less than 1% in premarket trading to $158.46 per share. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the electric car maker announced plans to seek shareholder approval to reinstate a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth $55 billion, which was previously rejected by a Delaware judge. Tesla also aims to relocate its corporate headquarters from Delaware to Texas.
Tuesday’s market close saw U.S. markets finishing lower, with interest rates expected to remain elevated for a longer duration than previously anticipated. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized the central bank’s cautious approach to cutting its main interest rate, citing the need for more confidence in inflation reaching its 2% target sustainably.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 surged 1.3% at midday, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.5%, and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.7% after a report showed a decrease in U.K. inflation to its lowest level in two and a half years in March, potentially paving the way for interest rate cuts.
In Asian markets, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 1.3%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down nearly 0.1%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped nearly 1.0%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng remained relatively unchanged, and the Shanghai Composite jumped 2.1%.
Energy trading saw benchmark U.S. crude shedding 44 cents to $84.92 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 49 cents to $89.53 a barrel. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar ticked up slightly against the Japanese yen and the euro.
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