Stock market today: Stocks tumble on profit, economy worries

By Stan Choe, The Associated Press on April 25, 2023.

NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street had its biggest drop in a month as investors worried about company profits and the state of the economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell twice as much. First Republic Bank lost half its value after disclosing details for the first time about the exodus of customers it suffered in March. UPS fell after saying a challenging economy could crimp its revenue over the course of the year. Reports on the economy were mixed, with consumer confidence falling again.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street is tumbling Tuesday toward its worst day in a month on worries about the strength of corporate profits and the economy following some mixed reports.

The S&P 500 was 1.4% lower in late trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 332 points, or 1%, at 33,542, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% lower.

First Republic Bank plunged 43.4% for the sharpest loss in the S&P 500 after it said customers withdrew more than $100 billion in deposits during the first quarter. That doesn’t include $30 billion that big banks plugged in to build faith in their rival after the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history shook confidence.

The size of the drop in deposits overshadowed First Republic’s beating analysts’ expectations for earnings at the start of the year.

The majority of companies so far this reporting season have been topping expectations, but the bar was set considerably low. Analysts are forecasting the worst drop in S&P 500 earnings since the spring of 2020, when the pandemic froze the global economy. That’s why Wall Street is focused just as much, if not more, on what companies say about their future prospects as they do about their past three months.

WHY UPS IS LOWER

UPS fell 9.8% after it met profit forecasts but said it made less in revenue than expected. It also said its revenue for the full year will likely come at the low end of its prior forecast, citing a challenging economy and other factors.

Danaher was another big weight on the market, falling 8.9% despite reporting better earnings and revenue than expected. Analysts pointed to its trimming back its forecast for a key revenue measure over the course of the year.

On the winning side, PepsiCo rose 2.1% after beating profit expectations. Homebuilder PulteGroup rose 1.9% after also topping forecasts.

TECH EARNINGS

The heart of earnings reporting season is arriving, and more heavy hitters are coming after trading closes for the day.

Microsoft and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are both on the schedule. Because they’re two of the biggest companies on Wall Street by market value, their stock movements carry extra weight on the S&P 500 and other market indexes.

Broad stock indexes had so far been making only modest moves this earnings reporting season. The S&P 500 barely budged last week and ticked up just 0.1% on Monday. But volatility strategists at Barclays said the calm was unlikely to last for the long term.

The economy is under stress from high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. High rates can do that, but only by putting the brakes on the entire economy and hurting investment prices. Big chunks of the economy outside the job market have already begun to slow or contract.

With so much uncertainty about whether inflation can return to the Federal Reserve’s target without causing a recession, “we remain skeptical that markets are out of the woods,” Barclays strategists led by Stefano Pascale said in a report. They also pointed to “the risk of something breaking” in the financial system because of high rates.

ECONOMY WORRIES

A report on Tuesday showed that confidence among consumers fell more sharply in April than expected, down to its lowest level since July. That’s a discouraging signal when consumer spending makes up the biggest part of the U.S. economy.

A second report was more encouraging, saying sales of new homes rose by more than expected. The housing industry has been under pressure because higher mortgage rates are squeezing buyers.

On Thursday, the U.S. will give its first estimate of how much the economy grew during the first three months of the year. Economists expect to see growth cooled to a 1.9% annual rate, down from 2.6% at the end of 2022.

Much of the slowdown is due to Fed’s flurry of hikes to interest rates over the last year. The Federal Reserve meets next week, and much of Wall Street expects it to raise interest rates at least one more time before pausing.

Beyond higher interest rates, Wall Street is also worried that the struggles of the U.S. banking industry could tighten the brakes even further on the economy. First Republic said its deposits have stabilized since late March, but it’s still working to cut expenses. If it and other banks pull back on lending, it could lead to lower growth across the economy.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.39% from 3.50% late Monday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.

The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.95% from 4.11%.

In markets overseas, stock indexes closed mostly lower in Europe and were mixed across Asia overnight.