The three major US indices fell for the second trading day amid the hawkish Fed's tone and rising bond yields. The 10-year US Treasury yield topped 1.9% before dropping to 1.83% on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.96%, the S&P 500 was down 0.97%, and Nasdaq fell 1.15%.
The bank sector underperformed despite some strong earnings reports. Both Morgan Stanley and Bank of America beat expectations in the earnings results. Morgan Stanley's equities trading revenue grew 13% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley's share price rose 2.4%, and Bank of America was up 0.92%. However, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs all fell between 1-2%.
The tech giants closed in a mix. Microsoft bounced 0.16% after the last day selloff when it announced to buy the video game publisher, Activision Blizzard in all-cash of $68.7 billion. Sony's share price tumbled 12% on Tuesday on the news. Meta Platforms was up 0.37%. Apple and Amazon were down more than 1%, while Alphabet fell 0.69%. Netflix was up 0.93%, to $515.94, ahead of the Q4 earnings report on Thursday.
The consumer discretionary sector declined 1.5%, dragged by Teslas Motor. The EV maker's share slid 3.14%, to below $1000.
The US 2-year Treasury yield was at 1.03%. And the 10-year Treasury yield was slightly lower at 1.84%.
The gold futures price popped $30.6, to $1843.1 per ounce. The precious metal broke up the key resistance level at $1,830 for the first time since the 22nd of November. The silver future also surged 3.14%, to $24.23 per ounce, the highest in 2 months. The spikes in gold and silver are sparked by a risk-off sentiment resulting from the sharp falls in the stock markets.
The crude oil futures price was up 1.23%, to $86.48, heading into the $90 level amid supply fears and rising demand.
