4:10pm: S&P 500 notches another closing record
Strength in tech stocks saw the S&P 500 notch yet another record close on Wednesday, its fourth in a row. The index finished up 0.1% at 4,868.55 points.
The Nasdaq gained 0.4% at 15,482 points while the Dow Jones retreated by 0.3% to 37,807 points.
Netflix, buoyed by strong quarterly earnings, finished the day up 10.7% at US$544.87.
12:00pm: Stocks remain buoyant as business activity picks up
Stocks remained in the green, with broad-based gains, after a report showed business activity at a seven-month high.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 135.95 points, 0.4%, at 38,041.40, the S&P 500 was up 34.84 points, 0.7%, at 4,899.44 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 169.20 points, 1.1%, at 15,595.14.
Craig Erlam at Oanda said: "US economic data was surprisingly strong today, with both the services and manufacturing PMIs comfortably exceeding expectations and reinforcing the message that the economy is in good shape, even getting better."
S&P Global's Flash composite US PMI has risen to 52.3, from 50.9 in December, showing faster growth, with the growth driven by the services sector.
The service sector business activity index reached 52.9 in January, a seven-month high, up from 51.4 in December while the manufacturing PMI hit 50.3 in January, a 15-month high, up from 47.9 in December.
S&P Global said: "Businesses in the US signalled a stronger upturn in activity at the start of the year, as output growth quickened to the sharpest rate in seven months."
"The expansion was driven by service providers, as manufacturers continued to see a drop in production amid intensifying supply issues."
"The report also shows that the prices charged by firms are rising at the slowest rate since May 2020, which may show that inflationary pressures are easing."
9:45am: Netflix spurs S&P 500 to new high
Stocks in New York jumped on Wednesday - with the S&P 500 hitting a fresh intra-day high - spurred by further gains in technology issues following better-than-expected results from Netflix
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 111.72 points, 0.3%, at 38,017.17, the S&P 500 was up 24.57 points, 0.5%, at 4,889.17 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 115.71 points, 0.8%, at 15,541.65.
Netflix shares surged nearly 12% after the streamer said it added more than 13 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total subscriber count to an all-time high of 260.8 million.
Revenue also topped analysts’ estimates, as did current-quarter earnings guidance.
Bank of America was among those impressed, raising its price target to $650 from $585.
Plenty of six-handles this am. $NFLX https://t.co/8VvcXJ0yIA
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) January 24, 2024
Away from Netflix, AT&T slipped 2.4% on lower-than-expected earnings while Dupont slipped 12.2% after pre-announcing weak fourth-quarter results and issuing disappointing first-quarter guidance.
eBay is 2.4% higher on its job cut plans.
7:00am: Netflix boosts tech stocks ahead of Tesla earnings
Stocks in New York are set to rise again, led by tech issues, after strong results from Netflix gave the market another shot in the arm.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.7%.
Netflix jumped 8.7% in after hours trading as its revenue and new subscriptions topped estimates.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank noted more than 13 million people decided that Netflix was worth paying for, and the number of total paid subscribers rose past 260 million.
“The password sharing ban has been a boon for the company,” she noted, adding “the only thing they regret is not having thought about it before.”
Wednesday sees another batch of earnings hit the wires with one of the ‘Magnificent Seven,’ Tesla, reporting after the market close.
Elsewhere, AT&T is down 1.9% in pre-market trading despite swinging back to a profit in 2023.
The company said it surpassed its full-year guidance for adjusted Ebitda, mobility service and broadband revenue growth as well as its previously increased guidance for free cash flow.
eBay is up 4.1% after saying it will slash 1,000 jobs, as the online marketplace's costs have "outpaced" its growth.
San Jose, California-based eBay said it estimates that roughly 9% of its full-time workforce will be axed.
"Additionally, we plan to scale back the number of contracts we have within our alternate workforce over the coming months," it added.
Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone said: "Our strategy is the right one, but there is more we can do to ensure our success. We need to better organize our teams for speed - allowing us to be more nimble, bring like-work together, and help us make decisions more quickly.
Otherwise, keep an eye open for numbers from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), IBM Corp, Lam and Research - all due today.