European markets open lower Wednesday
European markets opened lower Wednesday as investors keep an eye on debt ceiling negotiations stateside.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2% at the start of the session, with most sectors and major bourses trading in negative territory. Financial services made the biggest losses, down 1.3%, followed by autos, which dropped 0.9%. Health care modestly bucked the trend with a 0.1% uptick.
— Hannah Ward-Glenton
Chinese yuan surpasses 7-mark as economic data misses
The offshore Chinese yuan weakened further to 7.0061 against the greenback, breaching the 7-mark for the first time in 2023 on Wednesday morning.
The onshore yuan also weakened 0.18% to 6.9913 against the U.S. dollar as investors further digested China’s economic data that missed estimates on Tuesday.
Home prices in China ticked up at a slower pace, with prices 0.2% higher year-on-year, compared to a 0.8% rise seen in the previous month, according to Reuters’ calculations.
Singapore non-oil domestic exports posts surprise monthly rise in April, total trade
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports in April grew 2.7% compared to the month before, a surprise upside compared to the 3% contraction that economists polled by Reuters were expecting.
On a year-on-year basis however, non-oil domestic exports fell 9.8%, more than the economists’ expectations of 9.4%.
This was mainly due to a decline in exports to China, Taiwan and Malaysia, although exports to the U.S., the European Union and South Korea rose.
Singapore’s total trade fell to SG$100.3 billion in April, a 18.8% year-on-year drop and extending the 8.6% decrease in March.
Compared to April 2022, total exports declined by 18.1% and total imports contracted by 19.5%.
— Lim Hui Jie
Quad meeting in Sydney called off as Biden shortens trip
Western Alliance shares rise in after-hours trading
Shares of Western Alliance jumped about 7% in extended trading after the bank said that its deposit growth for the current quarter surpassed $2 billion as of May 12.
The new data was in an investor update filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
That’s an increase from the $1.8 billion in deposit growth for the quarter through May 9.
Western Alliance shares have been on a recent upswing, up 17% over the past week – and posting a gain of 15% since this week has begun. The stock is still down nearly 47% for the year, however.
–Darla Mercado, Ethan Kraft
Keysight rises on stronger-than-expected earnings
Tech stock Keysight advanced more than 7% after the bell on the back of a strong quarterly earnings report and guidance for the current quarter.
In its fiscal second quarter, the company reported $2.12 in earnings per share without items and $1.39 billion in revenue. By comparison, analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.96 per share and revenue to come in slightly lower at $1.38 billion.
For the current quarter, the company said to expected between $2 and $2.06 in earnings per share for the current quarter, while analysts forecasted $1.96. Keysight guided revenue for the quarter to come in between $1.37 billion and $1.39 billion, a range that contains Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $1.38 billion.
— Alex Harring
Dow closes below the 50-day moving average for the first time since March 30
The Dow ended the trading session below a key threshold on Tuesday.
The 30-stock index fell 336.46 points, or 1.01%, to close at 33,012.14. It closed below its 50-day moving average level of 33,143.18, but it has slipped below that threshold on an intraday basis.
The 50-day moving average is a short-term technical indicator of where an asset or an index is trading. A close below that level may signal a potential change toward the downside.
–Darla Mercado, Gina Francolla
Doximity slides in post-market trading after giving weak expectations for the current quarter
Medical software stock Doximity slid more than 8% in extended trading after issuing weak guidance for the current quarter.
The company said to expect between $106.5 million and $107.5 million in revenue and between $39 million and $40 million in adjusted EBITDA for the first fiscal quarter. Both of those estimates were below consensus expectations, with analysts polled by FactSet anticipating revenue at $11.8 million and adjusted EBITDA at $45.4 million.
That overshadowed results from the fourth fiscal quarter. The company reported 20 cents in earnings per share excluding items, above the 17 cents expected by analysts. Revenue also beat expectations at $111 million compared with a $110.1 million forecast. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $48.9 million, ahead of the $45.7 consensus estimate.
For the full fiscal year, the company said to expect between $500 million and $506 million in revenue, a range that contains the Wall Street estimate of $501.8 million. The company expects adjusted EBITDA for the year to come in between $216 million and $222 million, while analysts anticipate $215.7 million.
— Alex Harring
Stock futures are little changed
Stock futures were up modestly shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
Futures tied to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were all up around 0.1%.
— Alex Harring
