The markets suffered a blow from the bears today as weakness was widespread. Unlike yesterday the market was unable to shake off the weakness in oil and sold off almost all day long. The Nasdaq 100 was the weakest losing 103 (-2.24%). The S&P 500 lost 36 (-1.87%) and the Dow dropped 295 (-1.80%). The weakness today was largely blamed on the continued weakness in oil. After an amazing earnings release shares of Alphabet (GOOG ) surged to new highs Tuesday but did give back most of those gains due to market weakness. Earnings blew past Wall Street's expectations and the company affirmed solid growth in the future. The 1.68% pop today gives Alphabet a market cap of $553 billion which knocks off Apple as the world's most valuable publicly traded company.
Shares of UBS (UBS ) took a hit today losing 7.81% after reporting quarterly earnings. Despite its profit rising 11% in the fourth quarter, analysts claimed that uncertainty in the markets weighed on the results of its wealth management and investment banking businesses. The Swiss bank said its results were hurt by "very low levels of client activity and pronounced risk aversion."
Lastly, Tesla (TSLA ) had a bad day today losing 7.19% while also making new 52 week lows. The electric car maker's stock fell under pressure after a research note from Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson urged investors to "avoid" the stock on concern over underlying demand. Erickson also noted that he did not expect Tesla to get its Model X into showrooms until late spring due to production challenges.