Mixed Earnings, Economic News Contributing To Choppy Trading On Wall Street

Stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line after ending Tuesday’s trading mixed. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq has reached a new record intraday high.

Currently, the major averages are posting modest gains. The Dow is up 115.95 points or 0.3 percent at 42,349.00, the Nasdaq is up 24.85 points or 0.1 percent at 18,737.60 and the S&P 500 is up 8.01 points or 0.1 percent at 5,840.93.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street comes as traders digest a mixed batch of corporate earnings and U.S. economic news.

Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) are surging by 5.2 percent after the Google parent reported third quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Snapchat parent Snap (SNAP) has also soared by 14.3 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results and announcing a $500 million stock repurchase program.

Meanwhile, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are plunging by 9.5 percent after the chipmaker reported third quarter revenues that beat expectations but provided disappointing fourth quarter revenue guidance.

Dow component Caterpillar (CAT) has also slumped by 1.3 percent after the construction equipment maker reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings.

On the U.S. economic front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. shot up by much more than anticipated in the month of October.

ADP said private sector employment surged by 233,000 jobs in October after jumping by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected private sector employment to climb by 115,000 jobs compared to the addition of 143,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

However, a separate report released by the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic growth unexpectedly slowed in the third quarter.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product shot up by 2.8 percent in the third quarter after surging by 3.0 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected another 3.0 percent jump.

The unexpected slowdown in the pace of GDP growth primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory investment and a larger decrease in residential fixed investment.

Sector News

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, semiconductor stocks are seeing substantial weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.4 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

The steep drop by AMD is weighing on the sector along with a nosedive by shares of Qorvo (QRVO), which have plummeted by 25.9 percent after the company provided disappointing fiscal third quarter earnings guidance.

Gold stocks are also seeing considerable weakness despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.2 percent.

Computer hardware, telecom and pharmaceutical stocks have also moved notably lower, while strength is visible among housing, biotechnology and oil service stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.6 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.6 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and jumped by 1.0 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back off their best levels but continue to see modest strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.8 basis points at 4.256 percent.

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