© Reuters
Investing.com — The S&P500 was flat Friday, swinging between gains and losses as investors weighed an Intel-led slump in tech and further signs of cooling inflation.
By 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the was up 70 points, or 0.2%, the traded largely flat, while the fell 0.3%.
Weak Intel guidance weighs; Western Digital adds to wobble in chips
Tech giant Intel (NASDAQ:)’s disappointing first-quarter guidance, sent shares of the chipmaker 12% lower and pressured tech stocks.
While Inte’s guidance miss was a negative, there was some reason for optimism, Deutsche Bank said, as the weakness wasn’t in Intel’s core PC and datacenter business and management touted a return to growth this year.
“Intel expressed significant confidence in quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year revenue and EPS growth returning for the remainder of 2024,” Deutsche Bank added.
As well as Intel’s dump, chip stocks were also dealt a blow by a more than 3% decline in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:) despite the memory chip maker’s better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance.
Fed’s favorite inflation gauge slows growth
The , which is the Fed’s preferred inflation guage and excludes volatile items like food and fuel, slowed to a 2.9% pace in December, from 3.2% a month earlier, below economists’ estimates of 3%.
Further signs of slowing in inflation will likely be welcomed at the Fed as they prepared for the next policy meeting slated for Jan. 30-31.
, which makes up the bulk of economic growth, surprised to the upside, rising 0.7%, well above estimates for a 0.4% rise, underpinning ongoing optimism the Fed’s measures to cut inflation are unlikely to push the economy into severe recession.
T-Mobile US misses profit target; American Express , jumps on earnings beat, Visa stutters
The earnings season continued Friday, with T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:) was marginally lower after the wireless carrier missed its profit target for the fourth quarter, even as it forecast monthly bill-paying phone subscriber growth for the year above estimates, banking on its wide 5G coverage and promotional offers to draw in consumers.
American Express (NYSE:) stock rose 7% after the credit card giant beat full-year profit expectations, even as it raised its loan loss provisions, bracing for a jump in potential loan defaults.
It’s main rival, on the other hand, Visa (NYSE:) stock fell 1.4% after it offered up tepid second-quarter sales guidance, with the world’s largest payments processor forecasting an uptick in the “upper mid- to high single-digit” in net revenue during its current period — implying a slowdown from the 11% increase posted in the corresponding period in 2023.
(Peter Nurse continued to this report.)
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