On Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index closed down 0.51% at a two-week low, while the Dow Jones gained 0.53%, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.77% to a seven-week low. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) led chipmakers with a staggering decline of over 17% following a weak Q1 sales forecast of $9.8 billion, below market expectations of approximately $10 billion.
Super Micro Computer surged more than 13% after forecasting Q3 net sales of at least $12.30 billion, significantly above the consensus of $10.25 billion. Mixed economic indicators showed that January ADP employment change rose by 22,000, missing expectations of 45,000, while the ISM services index remained steady at 53.8, surpassing a projected drop to 53.5.
Next week’s Treasury refunding is set at $125 billion, and mortgage applications fell by 8.9% for the week ending January 30, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.21%. Approximately 150 S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings this week, with 81% of reported earnings so far beating expectations, indicating a projected Q4 earnings growth of 8.4%.
