Earnings Reports - 173 S&P 500 companies are reporting earnings this week, with Apple and Amazon.com reporting after Thursday's close [1] - 84% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten forecasts, indicating a strong Q3 earnings season [1] - Q3 profits are expected to rise by 7.2% year-over-year, the smallest increase in two years, while sales growth is projected to slow to 5.9% year-over-year from 6.4% in Q2 [1] Market Reactions - US stock indexes are mixed, with Meta Platforms down over 10% and Microsoft down over 2% due to disappointing earnings, while Alphabet is up over 4% after beating Q3 earnings [4][5] - Chipmakers are experiencing declines, led by Nvidia's 2% drop after comments from President Trump regarding sales approvals [13] - Sprouts Farmers Market reported Q3 net sales of $2.20 billion, below the consensus of $2.23 billion, leading to a decline of over 24% in its stock [15] Economic Indicators - The US government shutdown is ongoing, affecting market sentiment and delaying the release of key economic reports, with an estimated 640,000 federal workers furloughed [7] - Eurozone Q3 GDP rose by 0.2% quarter-over-quarter and 1.3% year-over-year, exceeding expectations [11] Interest Rates - Markets are pricing in a 70% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut at the next FOMC meeting on December 9-10, with an overall expected cut of 81 basis points by the end of 2026 [3] - The 10-year T-note yield has risen to a 2.5-week high of 4.11%, influenced by reduced safe-haven demand and rising inflation expectations [9][10]
Stocks Pressured by Mixed Megacap Technology Earnings and Higher Bond Yields