Stock market trims gains; Dow Jones, small stocks decline after a Federal Reserve official warns about interest rates

The stock market halved its rebound in Thursday afternoon trading, as a senior Federal Reserve official tempered hopes for an interest rate cut as early as March.

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The Nasdaq Composite, which rose more than 1%, rose just 0.6%. Technology Sector Select SPDR (XLK) continues to lead the sectors with an increase of 1.3%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%, but was no longer on track to achieve a record closing high.

apple (Camel) jumped 2.7% after rising from the support level at the 200-day moving average. BofA Securities upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised the price target to 225 from 208. Analyst Wamsi Mohan pointed to a potential sales boom from the company's upcoming Vision Pro headset.

The S&P 500 trimmed its gains to 0.2% in the stock market today. It has stopped at the 21-day EMA.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 85 points, or 0.2%. UnitedHealth Group (United nations) alone subtracted more than 100 points from the index. The managed care company fell nearly 3% in sympathy with its competitor Humana (Hmm), which fell 10% after it cut its full-year earnings forecast.

but Boeing (Bachelor'sThe company's shares rose 3.2% after it announced that India-based Acasa Air had ordered 150 737 MAX aircraft. The deal is a huge boost for Boeing, whose stock fell 22% this month after its 737 MAX 9 planes were grounded for safety checks.

The Russell 2000 index reversed 0.4% as small caps continued to weaken. The index is down about 6% so far this month.

Market cools due to Fed comments

The indices came off their midday highs and appeared to decline afterward Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic made comments on monetary policy. Bostic said the economic environment is unpredictable, and it is too early to think about lowering interest rates.

“Early interest rate cuts could unleash higher demand that could put upward pressure on prices,” Bostic said. However, he feels confident enough that he now expects interest rate cuts to begin in the third quarter, which is closer than his previous forecast for the fourth quarter.

The Fed next meets on January 30-31, although most traders are looking to the March meeting for a possible rate cut.

The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) also fell to a loss of 0.3%.

Trading volume increased on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and decreased on the New York Stock Exchange compared to the same period on Wednesday. Despite the index's gains, losing stocks outperformed rising stocks by 7-5 on the Nasdaq and by 7-4 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Stock market lead chips

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (TSM) The 105.52 buy point of the cup bottom was crossed with huge volume, which is the catalyst for the strength of the sector.

Early Thursday, TSMC beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations as higher expectations for the year fueled optimism about the chip industry. Chip maker – Apple's main supplier, Nvidia (NVDA) and other major technology companies – expect 2024 revenues to rise more than 20%. TSMC also cited strong demand for high-end chips used in AI applications.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (Trait) jumped 2% to an all-time high. Marvell technology (MRVL) broke above the 67.99 buy point from a long cup base.

Flexible (Estaq) tried to break the 118.24 buy point from a flat base but also reversed lower. The company's Elasticsearch software helps collect, manage and analyze the data needed to create productive AI systems.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 4.15% after the jobs data and Bostic's comments.

Claims for unemployment benefits It fell to 187,000This is the lowest level in 16 months. It was lower than economists' expectations of 206,000 and the previous week's claims of 203,000.

Housing starts fell to 1.460 million at an annual rate in December. But building permits, which are used to forecast future construction, rose to 1.495 million. Both reports were Above economists' estimatesAccording to the Econoday website. iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) Trim gains to 0.1%.

The stock market gets earnings reports

Birkenstock (Burke) fell 10% in bulk, on track for its biggest single-day loss since the company's initial public offering on Oct. 11, according to Dow Jones market data. In the shoemaker's first quarterly results since its IPO, Profit exceeded expectations The forecasts were considered cautious.

Birkenstock stock rose more than 20% from its alternative buy point of 42.96, but gave up most of that gain. This creates a selling situation.

Elsewhere, financials were mixed after earnings reports.

Key Corp (key) sold off over 5% and fell below the 50-day moving average. The bank missed Q4 earnings estimates, according to FactSet.

Discover financial services (DFS) fell by 11% in high trading volume. The credit card company missed fourth-quarter earnings expectations and said it was raising its reserves for credit losses.

M&T Bank (mtb) Little changed despite a mixed Q4 report. Shares are below 134.92 entry of December breakout. also, The first horizon (FHN) rose 4% after beating earnings expectations. additional, Trust Financial (Untie it) Reflect down slightly. FirstCall data showed that the company missed earnings views.

Fuel cell company Power delivery (stopper) fell 15.5% to the lowest level since September 2019 after it announced that it would sell up to $1 billion in shares to raise more capital. Down 47% so far this month, it was also one of the worst-performing stocks on the stock market Thursday.

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