Stocks initially trended downward at the start of the session on Wednesday but have rebounded significantly throughout the trading day. The key indices are now markedly off their early lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching the break-even point.
As of now, the Nasdaq is experiencing a decline of 116.57 points, or 0.6%, at 19,537.44, the S&P 500 has dropped 16.15 points, or 0.3%, to 6,021.73, and the Dow Jones is down a slight 3.79 points, representing a decrease of less than 0.1%, at 44,552.25.
The early retreat on Wall Street was primarily driven by weakness in tech stocks, following the market's negative reaction to earnings reports from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Alphabet's shares have plummeted 8.4% despite the parent company of Google posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings; its cloud segment, however, fell short of revenue projections.
Similarly, AMD's stock has dropped 8.9%. Although it reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenues that surpassed expectations, its data center sales did not meet market forecasts.
However, the selling pressure has eased as traders absorb mixed U.S. economic data released during the day.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) published a report indicating a modest and unexpected slowdown in growth within the U.S. service sector for January. The services PMI fell to 52.8 from a revised 54.0 in December. While a PMI reading above 50 signals expansion, economists had anticipated a slight rise to 54.3, against the initial December figure of 54.1.
Conversely, data from payroll processor ADP showed that U.S. private sector employment increased more than expected in January, with 183,000 jobs added, improving on December's upwardly revised figure of 176,000. Economists had forecast a rise of 150,000 jobs, up from the originally reported addition of 122,000 jobs for December.
**Sector News**
Despite broader market weakness, gold stocks have surged, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.1% to reach a three-month intraday high. This rally in gold stocks aligns with the precious metal's price continuing to hit record highs, amid escalating tensions in the U.S.-China trade war.
There is also significant strength in computer hardware stocks today, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index jumping 2.1%. Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and housing stocks have also posted strong gains, although airline and retail sectors are facing notable declines.
**Other Markets**
In Asia-Pacific trading on Wednesday, stock markets ended with mixed results. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.1%, whereas China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.9%.
European markets are exhibiting a mixed trend as well. The French CAC 40 Index has decreased by 0.3%, while the German DAX Index is slightly up by 0.1% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has risen by 0.5%.
In the bond market, treasuries have made a strong upward move, continuing gains from the previous session. Consequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves inversely to its price, is down 8.9 basis points at 4.424%.
