Stocks wavered on Wednesday morning as the broader mood stayed muted ahead of the first Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell more than 0.3%, after a bounce-back rally on Tuesday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) traded just above the flat line.
The looming Fed policy verdict is providing reason for markets to tread carefully, even though the central bank is expected to stand pat on interest rates.
Investors will listen out for answers to two key questions at Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference: How much further will the Fed cut rates, and has the central bank changed its stance in light of President Trump’s early tariff moves?
Meanwhile, a surprise rise in bookings for ASML (ASML), a key toolmaker in the AI chip chain, gave another boost to techs starting to recover from a bruising start to the week. Shares of ASML popped 5% in early trading, with peers like Applied Materials (AMAT) also making gains.
The saga deepened with claims by Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI that DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train its competitor.
The spotlight is now on the guidance in Meta (META) and Microsoft’s (MSFT) quarterly results, due after the bell, for reassurance that Big Tech’s heavy AI spending will pay off in growth. Tesla (TSLA) rounds out Wednesday’s megacap earnings, with Wall Street watching for a new catalyst to jump-start the stock.
LIVE5 updates
5 mins ago
ASML stock surges on earnings beat, CEO commentary about DeepSeek AI
ASML (ASML) stock rose 6% early Wednesday after the Dutch semiconductor equipment company posted better than expected fourth quarter earnings and its CEO dismissed concerns that DeepSeek’s latest breakthrough would hurt demand for AI chips.
ASML sells highly complex machines to chip manufacturers such as TSMC (TSM), which uses those machines to produce chips for Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), and other tech heavyweights.
The Dutch firm on Wednesday reported earnings per share of €6.85, ahead of the €6.68 expected, and its quarterly revenue of €9.2 billion topped the €9 billion forecast, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
Meanwhile, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet told CNBC in an interview about the impact of DeepSeek’s new AI models: “We see that as an opportunity for more chips demand.”
Stocks wavered on Wednesday morning with the broader mood muted ahead of the first Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell more than 0.3%, after a bounce-back rally on Tuesday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was just above the flat line.
The looming Fed policy verdict is providing reason for markets to tread carefully, even though the central bank is expected to stand pat on interest rates.
45 mins ago
Trump Media shares pop nearly 15% amid plan to expand into financial services
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) shares rose nearly 15% in pre-market trading after the company linked to President Donald Trump announced an expansion into financial services.
The operator of Truth Social will launch a financial services and fintech brand dubbed “Truth.Fi.”
The board approved a $250 million investment of its cash reserves into Customized separately managed accounts (SMAs), Customized exchange-traded funds (ETF), as well as bitcoin (BTC-USD) and similar cryptocurrencies or crypto-related securities.
“We began by creating a free-speech social media platform, added an ultra-fast TV streaming service, and now we’re moving into investment products and decentralized finance,” TMTG CEO and Chairman Devin Nunes said in the release.
“Developing American First investment vehicles is another step toward our goal of creating a robust ecosystem through which American patriots can protect themselves from the ever-present threat of cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations.”
Today at 1:27 PM UTC
Apple stock gets third downgrade in a week
Oppenheimer has joined its peers at Loop Capital and Jefferies in cutting its rating on shares of Apple (AAPL) in the run-up to the company’s fiscal first quarter results, due out after the bell tomorrow.
OpCo cut its rating on Apple to Perform from Outperform, according to a report from Bloomberg, with the firm citing slowing iPhone sales and a lack of AI innovation, similar cases to those made by Loop and Jefferies last week.
On Monday, Apple was a market leader amid a washout in AI-related plays, most notably Nvidia (NVDA), which lost nearly $600 billion in market value. This was a silver lining of sorts during a period in which the company has been a notable laggard relative to its peers on deploying AI across its product line.
And with Apple set to report results for its holiday quarter on Thursday — its most important quarter of the year for iPhone sales — Wall Street is bracing its clients for a mild disappointment.
