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Netflix falls after downbeat forecast
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Abbott Labs, Intuitive Surgical jump after earnings
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Western Alliance surges as results allay deposit fears
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VIX falls to lowest since November 2021
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Indexes: Dow down 0.23%, S&P down 0.01%, Nasdaq up 0.03%
(Updates with further market data)
By Lewis Krauskopf, Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 19 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended virtually
unchanged on Wednesday while the Dow dipped as investors
digested a mixed bag of corporate earnings, including upbeat
reports from medical technology companies, countered by weakness
in Netflix shares.
The Dow was weighed down by declines in Walt Disney Co and UnitedHealth Group Inc shares following
results from rivals in their respective industries.
Major equity indexes have been largely stable during the
early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors
expect to show tepid results.
"Corporate results are being seen as being in large part
company-specific news versus market news," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at B Riley Wealth. "If that keeps us
relatively calm and unchanged for now, while the sample set of
reporters is still quite small, I think that's a positive."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.62 points,
or 0.23%, to 33,897.01; the S&P 500 lost 0.35 points, or
0.01%, at 4,154.52; and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.81
points, or 0.03%, at 12,157.23.
The defensive utilities group gained most among
S&P 500 sectors, rising 0.8%.
The CBOE Volatility index , also known as Wall
Street's fear gauge, fell to its lowest point since November
2021 during the session.
Investors are looking for signs in corporate results that
inflation may be driving up costs or hurting consumer spending,
amid fears the economy may be on the cusp of a downturn.
S&P 500 companies overall are expected to post a 4.8%
decline in first-quarter earnings from the year-earlier period,
according to Refinitiv IBES.
"We seem stuck in this range, with those people who think
that there is going to be a recession coming and those people
who think there is going to be a soft landing," said Rick
Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.
Netflix Inc shares slid 3.2% after the
video-streaming pioneer offered a lighter-than-expected
forecast. Shares of streaming rival Disney slipped 2.2%.
Tesla Inc shares dropped 2% after the
electric-vehicle maker's sixth U.S. price cut this year. Tesla
shares slid further in initial after-market trading on Wednesday
following the company's quarterly report.
Shares of Elevance Health Inc fell 5.3% after the
insurer's strong quarterly profit failed to ease investor
concerns over regulatory hits to the company's government-backed
insurance business. UnitedHealth shares dropped 3.6%.
Elsewhere in healthcare, Abbott Laboratories shares
jumped 7.8% after the medical device maker said most delayed
non-urgent medical procedures had resumed globally three years
into the COVID-19 pandemic. Intuitive Surgical shares
soared 10.9% after its quarterly revenue and profit topped
estimates.
Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp surged 24.1%
after the company posted stronger-than-expected earnings,
helping lift the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF 3.9%.
Regional banks have been in focus after the failure of
Silicon Valley Bank last month prompted concerns about systemic
risks.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a
1.28-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and one new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 123 new lows.
About 10 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges,
compared with the 10.6 billion daily average over the last 20
sessions.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Sruthi Shankar and
Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Richard Chang)
