Tags: stocks | earnings | fed | rates

Wall Street Ends Higher as Investors Digest Earnings

Wall Street Ends Higher as Investors Digest Earnings
A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on the morning of Feb. 3, 2025 (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Wednesday, 05 February 2025 04:17 PM EST

All three major stock indexes closed higher Wednesday, rebounding from declines earlier in the session as investors brushed off disappointing Alphabet earnings and weighed the prospect of future interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Google-parent Alphabet dropped after posting downbeat cloud revenue growth on Tuesday and earmarking a higher-than-expected $75 billion investment for its AI buildout this year.

Some AI-related stocks showed signs of recovery after being rocked last week following the soaring popularity of a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model developed by startup DeepSeek. Nvidia, which registered one of the biggest losses, rose on Wednesday.

"Ultimately, demand is not going away for AI even with the DeepSeek news. They’re all going to have to spend more money and that’s what the AI story has been. This is a fairly long cycle story," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management.

Advanced Micro Devices, meanwhile, fell after CEO Lisa Su said the company's current-quarter data center sales - a proxy for its AI revenue - would drop about 7% from the previous quarter.

On the data front, investors are looking ahead to the January nonfarm payrolls report, expected to be released on Friday.

U.S. services sector activity unexpectedly slowed in January amid cooling demand, helping curb price growth, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed on Wednesday.

"There are some concerns that the Fed may need to ease faster, that the economy is slowing, but that’s actually positive news for the markets because they’re looking for those Fed rate cuts," Haworth said.

The next Federal Open Markets Committee meeting is in March, and while only 16.5% of traders expect a rate cut then, a majority of traders anticipate a cut in June, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin said the Fed was still leaning towards more rate cuts this year, but flagged uncertainty around the impact of new tariffs, immigration, regulations and other initiatives from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

The S&P 500 gained 24.10 points, or 0.40%, to end at 6,061.98 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 40.91 points, or 0.21%, to 19,694.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317.79 points, or 0.71%, to 44,873.80.

Most of the S&P 500 sectors traded higher, with real estate and utility stocks leading the gains while communication services fell around 3%.

Shares of Apple slipped as Bloomberg News reported that China's antitrust regulator was preparing for a possible investigation of the iPhone maker.

Uber Technologies dropped after the ride-hailing company forecast current-quarter bookings below estimates.

Fiserv advanced as the payments firm beat estimates for fourth-quarter profit, helped by strong demand in its banking and payments processing unit.

Markets also await developments on the tariffs front after Trump said on Tuesday he was in no hurry to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to defuse a new trade war between the countries.

The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's fear gauge, dropped on Wednesday.

In corporate movers, FMC Corp. plunged after the agrichemicals producer forecast first-quarter revenue below estimates.

Johnson Controls jumped as the building solutions company named Joakim Weidemanis as chief executive officer and lifted its 2025 profit forecast.

© 2026 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


StreetTalk
All three major stock indexes closed higher Wednesday, rebounding from declines earlier in the session as investors brushed off disappointing Alphabet earnings and weighed the prospect of future interest rate cuts from the U.S.
stocks, earnings, fed, rates
531
2025-17-05
Wednesday, 05 February 2025 04:17 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
Free Newsmax E-Alerts
Email:
Country:
Zip Code:
Privacy: We never share your email.
 
Get Newsmax Text Alerts
TOP

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved