The three major U.S. equities indices plunged rapidly on Wednesday following a press conference with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Nasdaq closed almost flat, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.4%, and the S&P 500 was down 0.2%. In S&P 500 stocks, losers outnumber winners by more than two to one. Nine of the 11 sectors closed lower, led by real estate (down 1.7%), communications services (1.5%) and materials (1.0%). The tech (up 0.6%) and financial (0.3%) sectors closed higher.
Crude settled at $ 87.35 per barrel on Wednesday and traded nearly 0.6% in early trading on Thursday at $ 87.87. The 10-year/two-year US Treasury note spread ended the day at 0.72%, narrower by two basis points.
Here are the five S&P 500 stocks that closed with the biggest gains on Wednesday: Corning (up 11.16%), Archer Daniels Midland (5.70%), Broadcom (4.30%), Teradyne (3.67%) and Microsoft (2.85%).
The biggest losers on Wednesday in S&P 500 stocks were Discovery (down 9.16%), ADP (8.95%), F5 (8.43%), AT&T (8.42%) and Hasbro (6.06%).
At around 7:00 am ET Wednesday, the S&P 500 futures traded about 0.2%, the Nasdaq was up 0.4%and the Dow was trading less than 1%.
The leading gainer in S&P 500 stocks in premarket trading on Thursday was ServiceNow Inc. (NASDAQ: NOW), rose approximately 12% to $ 541.73. The company reported results late Wednesday that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Seagate Technology Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: STX) traded approximately 8% to $ 104.04. The company beat top-line and bottom-line estimates when it reported results. For 2022, Seagate expects revenue to increase by 3% to 6%.
Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) traded approximately 9.7% to $ 107.99. The company beat estimates when it reported quarterly results on Wednesday.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) traded up about 5.4% before the markets opened Thursday at $ 184.81. The chipmaker is another company that reports top-line and bottom-line beats.
Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) traded up 4.45% to $ 78.69. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that in recent months, Cigna has shown interest in acquiring Centene. No serious negotiations were held however, and sources say the discussions have ended.
Stocks trading lower in Thursday’s premarket session include Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ: TER), which dropped 16.3% to $ 120.01. The company exceeded expectations for revenues and profits but provided downside guidance for 2022. The 10% dividend increase and $ 750 million buyback program didn’t seem to have helped much.
LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC) dropped 17.9% to $ 18.47 in premarket Thursday. Another case of a disappointing earnings report on Wednesday night.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) closed about 1.4% on Wednesday and traded down nearly 5% in Thursday’s premarket at $ 567.50. The company exceeded estimates but provided downside guidance for the current quarter.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. dropped. (NYSE: EW) by about 5% Thursday morning. The heart health provider missed the revenues and provided in-line guidance for the current quarter and re-adopted the preliminary guidance for fiscal year 2022.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded down more than 3% in the premarket session on Thursday at $ 50.11. The chipmaker beat top-line and bottom-line estimates but provided mixed guidance for the current quarter. Intel also raised its dividend by 5% to $ 0.365 per share ($ 1.46 annually).
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