Nasdaq futures sink after early Big Tech bust, with Fed on deck


US stock futures turned mostly lower Wednesday, with the Nasdaq set to fall over 1% at the open after the first batch of results from tech giants largely failed to satisfy investors. Wall Street was also bracing Wednesday for the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate decision of the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was set to sink around 1.1% Wednesday. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded about 0.5% lower after slumping slightly below its record high on Tuesday. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), meanwhile, ticked slightly above the flatline.

“Magnificent Seven” names Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), along with chipmaker AMD (AMD), took center stage on the earnings docket Tuesday. All three stocks were hit Wednesday, with over 5% drops from the Google parent and AMD outpacing Microsoft’s modest decline.

The poor start from the tech mega-caps, which are expected to do much of the heavy lifting for the S&P 500 this earnings season, could unnerve Wall Street — at least until Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) get their turn on Thursday.

Or until Wednesday afternoon, when the Fed gets its turn in the spotlight in a busy week. The Fed is largely expected to hold interest rates steady at multi-decade highs, but investors are turning their attention to any signs of when — and how much — the central bank will turn to rate cuts, as Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports.

Boeing (BA) is the highlight of the Wednesday earnings docket amid a string of safety concerns related to its planes.

Live2 updates

  • US economy adds 107,000 private payroll jobs in January

    The latest ADP employment report showed private employers added 107,000 jobs in January, below the estimates for 150,000 and below from the 158,000 seen in December.

    “Progress on inflation has brightened the economic picture despite a slowdown in hiring and pay,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in the company’s release. “Wages adjusted for inflation have improved over the past six months, and the economy looks like it’s headed toward a soft landing in the U.S. and globally.”

    ADP’s latest report also included a closer look at slowing wage gain for job switchers, a key part of what had been the post-lockdown job market.

    ADP’s monthly private payroll data released Wednesday showed annual wage growth for workers changing jobs fell to 7.2% in January, the slowest pace of growth since May 2021. Meanwhile, workers who kept the same job saw wages rise 5.2% last month, the least since August 2021.

  • A busy week continues

    Good morning! The Federal Reserve is taking center stage today: Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger has what you need to know before the decision.

    Here’s what to look for on a lighter earnings docket sandwiched between tech giant reports:

    Aflac (AFL), Boeing (BA), Hess (HES), Mastercard (MA), MetLife (MET), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Phillips 66 (PSX), Qualcomm (QCOM)

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