US Stocks Struggle as Tech Takes a Breather
US Stocks Struggle for Direction
U.S. stocks struggled for direction Tuesday, weighed down by weakness in tech as chip stocks including Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:) slipped, though mostly positive corporate earnings helped keep losses in check.
Stock Markets Performance
By 15:35 ET (20:35 GMT), the benchmark gained 0.1%, the tech-heavy fell 0.1%, and the blue chip had climbed by 55 points or 0.1%.
Eli Lilly, Palantir, Spotify Earnings Highlights
Eli Lilly (NYSE:) fell 1% after giving up gains despite reporting fourth-quarter results that topped estimates, driven by soaring demand for its new suite of obesity and diabetes drugs.
Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:) surged 30% after reporting Q4 beat on both the top and bottom lines as commercial revenue jumped underpinned by new business deals.
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:) narrowed its losses in the fourth quarter after revenue climbed 17% as the music streaming racked in more monthly active users than Wall Street expected. Its shares rose 4%.
Tech Weakness and Docusign’s Decline
Tech stocks were dragged lower by weaker semiconductor stocks, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:), and Rambus Inc (NASDAQ:) leading the declines.
DocuSign Inc (NASDAQ:) fell more than 3% after the company said it would lay off 6% of its workforce and signaled that it would remain a public company following reports that talks with potential suitors had stalled.
Fed Speaks on Rates
Federal Reserve officials continued to reiterate that the Fed isn’t in a rush to cut rates as there remains work to be done on slowing inflation to the 2% target.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said recent inflation data on a six-month, or three months basis, show that inflation is “basically” at target, though cautioned that it is “not all the way there yet.”
The remarks arrived on the heels of Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester saying that policymakers will likely cut rates later this year should inflation continue to cool, though added that there was “no rush” to cut.
(Scott Kanowsky, Oliver Gray contributed to this report.)
