Stocks Fall from Records Ahead of Apple, Amazon Earnings
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Key Takeaways
- Wall Street stocks fall from their record highs ahead of Apple and Amazon earnings reports today
- Bitcoin is looking to pare Wednesdayâs losses as price climbs above $59,000 early Thursday
Whatâs on Focus in the Markets?
Stocks on Wall Street fell during Wednesdayâs session after a choppy trading environment saw major indexes struggle to perform. Despite the ongoing optimism surrounding the strong earnings season, investors decided to scale back their risky trades on stocks.
As a result, the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day in negative territory. Both blue-chip stock benchmarks had set record highs a day earlier.
On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite ended the day virtually flat. The tech-heavy index gained in the initial hours of the session but later slipped to unchanged levels.
Whatâs New Around the Markets?
The calm trading in the financial markets arrives amid the crunch time for the earnings season. In more detail, a flurry of technology heavyweights reports quarterly financial results this week. While Facebook, Tesla, Microsoft and Googleâs Alphabet already posted their third-quarter figures, two more arrive today.
Apple, the worldâs biggest company by market valuation, and e-commerce giant Amazon will reveal their performance for the past quarter. With that in mind, analysts expect their figures to match those of other Big Tech names which posted blowout reports.
Apple and Amazon report today, a few minutes after the stock markets close.
Whatâs the Latest News on Bitcoin?
Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency with a market value of over $1tn, endured a quick selloff on Wednesday. While it was relatively contained, the drop erased about 5% of bitcoinâs price for no apparent reason. Still, the leading digital asset dropped to a 10-day bottom near $58,000 a coin.
However, crypto market enthusiasts jumped at the chance to buy the dip. As a result, the price of bitcoin moved higher earlier today, reaching levels above $59,000.
Ether, the second most valuable token in the crypto space, has performed even better today. While bitcoin is up about 2% on the day, Ether is 4% higher in the early hours of the session.
Against that backdrop, crypto traders are confident the outlook for the digital asset market remains bright.
Whatâs the Price of Gold?
The price of gold accelerated above $1,800 per troy ounce early on Thursday. The precious metal has been trading higher for two straight days, gaining a total of a little over 1%.
Furthermore, over the past month, gold has advanced about 5% to the current market price of $1,803 per troy ounce.
Whatâs Next for Traders and Investors?
Besides the earnings reports from tech giants Apple and Amazon, traders and investors will look for opportunities in the forex market today. The US dollar is likely to become more volatile with the release of GDP data and jobless claims data.
In addition, the euro could also provide trading ideas when the European Central Bank announces its interest rate decision.
Todayâs Economic Calendar (EST times)
- 07:45 am, EUR, ECB Monetary Policy Statement
- 07:45 am, EUR, ECB Interest Rate Decision (Oct)
- 08:30 am, EUR, ECB Press Conference
- 08:30 am, US, GDP (QoQ) (Q3) (Preliminary)
- 08:30 am, US, Initial Jobless Claims
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