Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Reading the tea leaves
Wall Street is waiting with bated breath to hear what the Federal Reserve will say Wednesday about interest rates. The S&P 500 closed nearly flat Tuesday ahead of the announcement, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%. Investors aren’t necessarily expecting a big change in rates at this meeting. In fact, the fed funds futures market has priced in a 97% probability that the central bank will leave rates unchanged. Instead, they’re more interested in the post-meeting statement the Fed will release, and what it means for the future of the bank’s policy. For now, follow live market updates.
2. Not good enough
European telcos argue that large internet firms, mainly American, have built their businesses on the back of multi-billion dollar investments they’ve made in internet infrastructure.
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images
It was good, just not good enough. Both Alphabet and Microsoft saw their stock sell off in extended trading Tuesday despite reporting revenue and earnings that topped expectations. Alphabet shares slid roughly 6% as the company reported disappointing ad revenue of $65.52 billion didn’t hit the $65.94 billion that StreetAccount analysts were forecasting. YouTube also came in shy of expectations, but Google Cloud was a bright spot, expanding 26% in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago. Microsoft shares, meanwhile, initially dropped more than 2%, though they recovered some of those losses. Microsoft said in a statement that its revenue increased 17.6% year over year, although its outlook was a bit light. Its Intelligent Cloud segment beat analysts’ expectations, and revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 30%.
3. Boeing blowout
A person walks past an unpainted Boeing 737-8 MAX parked at Renton Municipal Airport adjacent to Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington on January 25,…
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