The indices rose quickly from Wednesday’s session lows late in the session, but remained lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed its loss to 1% – down 320 points. Swiss banking giant Swiss credit (CS) plummeted as it struggled to stay afloat, while the American company First Republic (FRC) was criticized with an undesirable note.
Among Dow Jones stocks, Microsoft (MSFT) is set to rise for a third straight day. Previously, the software giant made available an AI tool on Azure OpenAI.
Amgen (AMGN) and Merck (MRK) increased, with Walgreens (WBA) and walmart (WMT).
The S&P 500 was also off session lows, down just under 1% at 3 p.m. ET. steel dynamics (STLD) sold and fell below its 50-day line. The steelmaker expects lower profits in the first quarter, according to reports.
The Nasdaq erased most of the losses and was nearly flat on time. Tech stocks helped the index. ParentGoogle Alphabet (GOOGL) gained more than 2%. netflix (NFLX) rose 3%. Both stocks were near today’s highs.
Volume on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq was higher compared to the same time on Tuesday.
Crude oil plunged 5.2% to $67.61 a barrel. oil giants Halliburton (HAL) and SLB (SLB) fell more than 8% as other energy stocks fell.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell 18 basis points to 3.45%. Gold price rose while Bitcoin fell.
The bank run contagion kicked off again on Wednesday. Shares of Credit Suisse plunged after its biggest investor, the Saudi National Bank, said it would no longer make investments in the Swiss bank. This cancels earlier plans from last year for a possible investment of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs.
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First Republic (FRC) was given a sharp drop in junk rating by S&P Global Ratings, fearing customers would withdraw their money. It is a four-level slash ranging from A- to BB+, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new rating places the stock squarely in speculative territory. Stocks plunged.
Elsewhere, parts of Charles Schwab (SCHW) rose 5% in volume after last week’s strong sell-off. CEO Walt Bettinger said the brokerage was not in dire straits and would not need to rush to raise funds to continue operating. Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) and Metropolitan Bank (MCB) were among the regional banks that pulled back after heavy losses.
Tech stocks outside the Dow Jones: AMD leading the buy point
Advanced micro-systems (AMD) is coming off a flat base, rising slightly above an entry of 89.04. Volume is 28% higher than average.
Facebook parent shares Metaplatforms (META) rose again after its huge 7% gain on Tuesday. The IBD Leaderboard stock is building a flat base with an entry of 197.26. Also on the ranking, Nvidia (NVDA) flipped higher.
Stocks move today
AerCap (AER) fell below its 200-day line. The aircraft leasing company dipped below its 50-day line on March 8 and is working on a six-day losing streak.
Fertilizer Manufacturer Shares Bunge (BG) fell 7%, reversing Tuesday’s gains. Shares rebounded 14% on Tuesday on news that Corteva (VAT) and Chevron (CVX) had partnered with Bunge for herbal petroleum products.
In economic data, wholesale prices rose less in February than in January. Excluding food and energy, they remained unchanged. The producer price index fell 0.1% in February and rose 4.6% for the year. U.S. retail sales also fell 0.4% in February, a steeper decline than views of 0.3%.
Please follow Ramakrishnan on Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
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