The US stock market is gradually weakening, while all attention is focused on the reports of Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Microsoft Corp.
Investors are expecting a rather serious surge in volatility in the near future against the background of reports from the most influential technology companies on Wall Street. Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. have already lost 61%, which was the biggest drop since the company went public ten years ago. Shares of Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and Microsoft Corp. also expect the sharpest drop since the global financial crisis.
All forecasts point to the maximum profit decline, at least for the last three years. The quintet of stocks together makes up about 40% of the weight of the Nasdaq 100 index, which has lost $6 trillion this year due to excessive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and the growing potential for recession.
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Coca-Cola shares rose 2.9% in premarket trading after the beverage giant's third-quarter earnings and sales beat economists' forecasts. The company also raised its annual forecast as demand remains stable, even though it has raised prices to offset higher costs.
GM shares rose 4.4% in premarket trading after the automaker reported higher-than-expected third-quarter earnings. This contributed to the recovery of sales. GM also said that restrictions related to supply chain disruptions are easing.
JetBlue's securities fell after the company reported a quarterly profit, as increased demand for travel helped offset rising costs. But the final results did not justify the estimates. JetBlue fell 4.5% in the premarket.
Shares of Xerox, the office equipment maker, fell 8.2% in premarket trading after the company reported adjusted quarterly earnings of 19 cents per share, compared with a consensus forecast of 40 cents.
GE securities jumped 4.2% in the premarket, although its profit did not meet forecasts. The company has cut its annual forecast. GE's revenue was higher than expected, which led to a rise in shares.
As for the banking sector, UBS securities jumped 5.1% in the premarket after the Swiss bank published quarterly results. They turned out to be better than expected, facilitated by a jump in customer cash inflows.
As for the technical picture of the S&P500, after a small phase of decline at the opening, the bulls have pulled themselves together and are trying to return to weekly highs. The main task for buyers now is to protect the supports: $3,773 and $3,735. As long as trading is conducted above these levels, we can expect the demand for risky assets to remain. This will also create good prerequisites for further strengthening the trading instrument and a breakout of $3,808. Only such a scenario will strengthen the hope for an upward correction with an exit to the resistance of $3,835. The farthest target will be the $3,872 area. In the case of a downward movement, buyers are obliged to declare themselves in the area of $3,773 and $3,735. A breakdown of these ranges will quickly push the trading instrument to $3,699 and $3,661 and open up the possibility of updating support and $3,621.