Stock market today: US markets drift lower before the bell as earnings season draws to a close

By ZIMO ZHONG and MATT OTT
Associated Press

Wall Street dipped before the opening bell Wednesday ahead of a second look at economic growth during the final three months of 2023 and more corporate financial results.

Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% before markets opened and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.3%.

Markets have been mixed this week but are still on track to end February with gains despite a growing consensus that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut benchmark interest rates until late spring or summer.

The government will issue its second estimate shortly on how the economy fared in the final quarter of 2023. Economic growth was much hotter than expected in the first estimate for gross domestic product, with the economy expanding a brisk 3.3% in the quarter as Americans continued to spend freely.

In premarket trading, Boston Beer shares tumbled more than 11% after the owner of Sam Adams and Truly posted a much wider fourth-quarter loss than analysts anticipated.

On the winning side was eBay, which jumped 5.3% after beating Wall Street’s fourth-quarter sales and profit targets.

In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1%, Germany’s DAX ticked down 0.1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 tumbled 0.7%.

In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% lower to 39,208.03.

Shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai sank even after the territory’s financial chief announced a budget aimed at boosting tourism and the property industry. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1.5% to 16,536.85, while the Shanghai Composite sank 1.9% to 2,957.85.

China’s largest private property developer, Country Garden, said Wednesday that it is facing a liquidation petition after failing to repay a term loan facility worth 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars ($204.5 million). The first hearing in the case is scheduled for May 17.

The move comes after China Evergrande, the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer, was ordered to undergo liquidation following a failed effort to restructure $300 billion in late January.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 7,660.40 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday the country’s inflation rate held at a two-year low in January, triggering hopes that the Reserve Bank may cut its benchmark interest rate.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 1% to 2,652.29, while Thailand’s SET was down 0.8%.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 79 cents to $78.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 77 cents to $81.89 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 150.70 Japanese yen from 150.51 Japanese yen. The euro fell to $1.0810 from $1.0843.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.2% was just off its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%.

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