Stocks were higher on Wednesday as market heavyweight Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) continued to impact the S&P 500 Index. The broader market index rose nearly 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly higher and the Nasdaq Composite added about 0.5%.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.16% or +8.60 points to 5,477.90
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.04% or +15.64 points to 39,127.80
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.49% or +87.50 points to 17,805.16
On the Economic Front:
New Home Sales fell in May, The Commerce Department reported Wednesday, as the housing market continues to struggle in an environment of high prices, high rates and low supply. Sales of newly constructed single-family U.S. homes totaled 619,000 for the month, declining 11.3% from April's upwardly revised print of 698,000.
The median sales price also dipped lower to $417,400 for May, down $500 from April's print, while the average sales price increased to $520,000, compared to $503,700.
For Earnings:
FedEx (NYSE: FDX) shares popped higher on Wednesday after the package shipping company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenue after market on Tuesday, showing some early benefits of the company's $4 billion cost-cutting effort.
Looking ahead towards fiscal 2025, the company expects low to mid-single-digit revenue growth year-over-year, with that expectation stemming from low-inventory levels and ecommerce, according to Chief Customer Officer Brie Carere.
"We think ecommerce is going to outpace the B2B growth," Carere said during the company's earnings call on Tuesday. "We like the fundamentals from an ecommerce perspective that will help us here in the United States and around the world."
In the News:
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) crossed $2 million market cap milestone during intraday trading on Wednesday, joining other tech heavyweights like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and AI darling Nvidia. Amazon shares have risen more than 29% year-to-date, outpacing both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq with their respective 15% and 20% growth YTD.
Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) shares jumped Wednesday after Volkswagen Group announced plans to invest up to $5 billion into the electric vehicle startup. With an initial $1 billion investment, Volkswagen plans to provide $1 billion each in 2025 and 2026 followed by $2 billion 2026 in a joint venture to create electrical architecture and software technology.
Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) is showing positive growth and margins looking ahead towards next year, according to Citi analyst Tyler Radke in a Wednesday note, with the firm reiterating its Buy rating and adding Shopify to its "focus list" of high conviction stocks.
"We like the stock's event path offering accelerating (albeit mechanical) revenue growth in 2H24 with profitability set to inflect in 2025," Radke said. "Shopify also avoids the ongoing macro/AI-induced budget uncertainty as more of a 'downstream beneficiary' of AI trends."
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) slashed its second-quarter revenue forecast on Wednesday, now expecting revenue per available seat mile to fall between 4% and 4.5% over last year, compared to its previous outlook of 1.5% to 3.5% decline. The airline also expects unit expenses, excluding fuel, to be as much as 7.5% year-over-year, from prior forecast for no change.
"The reduction in the Company's RASM [revenue per available seat mile] expectations was driven primarily by complexities in adapting its revenue management to current booking patterns in this dynamic environment," Southwest said in a filing.
For Thursday:
Market participants will react to more housing market data as they gear up for Friday's personal consumption expenditures index reading for May.