U.S. benchmark equity indexes finished lower on Wednesday as investors assessed the latest corporate earnings and economic data while anticipating results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Both companies are set to release their latest quarterly financial results after Wednesday's closing bell.
Alongside them, significant names like Amgen, Starbucks, DoorDash, Carvana, and eBay are also reporting. The U.S. economy has shown a slower-than-expected growth rate in Q3, accompanied by a cooling inflation trend, based on an advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Desjardins commented, "Real (gross domestic product) growth remains strong, and this summer's fears of an imminent recession now seem grossly exaggerated." October saw more robust employment growth in the U.S.
private sector than anticipated, although wage growth showed signs of slowing, per data from Automatic Data Processing. In the commodities market, December West Texas Intermediate crude oil rallied by $1.40, settling at $68.61 per barrel, while December Brent crude, a global market benchmark, was last seen climbing $1.46 to $72.58.
This uptick followed a report that revealed an unexpected decline in U.S. inventories from the previous week, despite lingering concerns over increasing supply and demand dynamics. Garmin experienced a notable surge of nearly 24% in its shares after exceeding expectations for Q3 and updating its full-year projections positively.
Conversely, shares of Super Micro Computer plummeted by approximately 33% following the resignation of Ernst & Young from its role as the company's public accounting firm..