US stock markets started off on a positive note following the news that seemingly everyone was expected: that the Federal Reserve ‘may’ increase rates this year, not that they had already done so.
The risk-off mood has continued, but investors remain focused on backing the winners in reporting season, with Dow Chemicals (NYSE: DOW) one such winner, adding 5% and assisting the Dow Jones to a lesser fall, down 0.1%.
The selling pressure remains firmly focused on tech, with the Nasdaq down 1.4% and the S&P 500 0.5%, with everyone waiting for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) massive after-hours earnings report to see how far the fear has spread.
Microsoft & Tesla report
Earlier in the week, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) fell despite reporting that it had surpassed US$50 billion in quarterly sales in December, a 20% jump in revenue spurred by its Azure cloud business which grew 46%. US$50 billion in a quarter is equivalent to the entire market value of Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS).
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) also weakened after reporting a record US$2.9 billion in earnings after sales surged 65% to US$17.7 billion. The issue was the CEO highlighted supply chain risks and the fact that car supplies will be lower in 2022. Tesla shares finished the session down more than 11%.
Finally, US GDP growth exceeded expectations, hitting 6.9% on the back of economy-wide inventory restocking, something expected to improve inflation outcomes.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US shares performed overnight.
- ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) up 9.1%
- Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) up 7.5%
- Square (NYSE: SQ) down 4.8%
- Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) down 6.1%
- Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) down 7.0%
- Roblox (NYSE: RBLX) down 9.4%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is tipped to open higher this morning. For a round-up of the latest news, check out my ASX 200 morning report.
