Stock market on Wednesday
US stock indices are down in early trading on Wednesday as traders assess corporate news and wait for new signals from Federal Reserve (Fed) executives, whose speeches are scheduled for the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index at 9:55 a.m. ET was down 61.72 points, down 0.18%. The Standard and Poor's 500 was down 18.19 points, down 0.44%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 76.19 points, down 0.63%.
Shares in eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) lost 0.6% in trading. Capri Holdings (NYSE: CPRI), which owns fashion brands Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Gianni Versace, fell 24% on weak quarterly earnings and outlook.
Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) gained 2.5%. The company, which provides taxi and food delivery services, boosted revenue nearly 1.5 times in Q4 2022 thanks to an increase in order volume. Uber's first-quarter forecasts beat market expectations.
New York-based Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY) is down 3.5%. The cosmetics and perfumes maker's net income rose 22% in FQ2, while its revenue fell 3.5%, but beat market expectations. In addition, Coty improved its FY2023 adjusted earnings forecast.
CVS Health Corp (NYSE: CVS)'s share price rose 4%. The pharmacy chain operator's Q4 revenue rose 9.5% to $83.85 billion, well above the market consensus forecast of $76.32 billion. Also, CVS announced the purchase of Oak Street Health for $10.6bn.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who participated in the Economic Club of Washington event the day before, said that he expects a significant slowdown in inflation in the U.S. in 2023. At the same time, he said the continued resilience of the US labour market could justify further rate hikes by the Fed.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) of New York Governor John Williams, Fed Board of Governors members Lisa Cook and Christopher Waller, Fed Vice Chairman Michael Barr, and Atlanta and Minneapolis Fed governors Raphael Bostic and Neel Kashkari are scheduled to speak.
Traders also appreciate the statement of US President Joe Biden, who proposed to increase the tax on share buyback by companies by 4 times up to 4%. This, according to Biden, should encourage businesses to increase investment in further development.
