Stocks Lack Direction On Wall Street, U.S. GDP Growth Revised Lower

Barry Adams
28 Feb, 2024
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street struggled to gain traction, and Treasury yields decreased ahead of the release of the personal consumption expenditure report on Thursday. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite turned down as investors debated future rate paths and the health of the economy and reacted to the latest earnings results. 

 

U.S. GDP Growth Revised Slightly Lower 

The U.S. economic growth was revised downward in the fourth quarter to 3.2% from the preliminary estimate of 3.3%, following the 4.9% annual pace of increase in the third quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday. 

The lower reading in inventories negatively impacted the overall economic growth in the quarter. 

The revised reading on inventories subtracted 0.27 percentage points from the increase of 0.07 percentage points estimated in the first estimate. 

With the second estimate, downward revisions to private inventory investment and federal government spending were partly offset by upward revisions to state and local government spending, consumer spending, residential fixed investment, nonresidential fixed investment, and exports. 

Consumer spending was revised higher to 3% from 2.8%, government spending increased to 4.2% from 3.3%, and exports increased to 6.4% from 6.3% and imports to 2.7% from 1.9%. 

Both exports and imports were revised higher than expected. 

Residential investment advanced at 2.9%, and non-residential investment increased to 2.4% from 1.9%. 

For the full-year 2023, the GDP growth in the second estimate was unrevised at 2.5%, compared to 1.9% in 2022. 

 

U.S. indexes and Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1% to 5,065.43, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.1% to 15,995.52. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.68%, 10-year Treasury notes inched down to 4.27%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.42%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.13 to $78.73 a barrel, and natural gas prices increased 3 cents to $1.84 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $4.53 to $2,033.36 an ounce, and silver fell 1 cent to $22.42. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.10.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

First Solar rose 6.4% to $154.10 after the solar panel maker reported a 30% increase in its net income in the fourth quarter and the company guided annual revenue that met analysts' expectations. 

eBay Inc. jumped 5.4% to $46.75 after the online marketplace operator reported fourth-quarter results that met investor expectations. 

The company also increased its dividend per share by 2 cents and announced a plan to buyback as much as $2 billion. 

Boston Beer dropped 10% to $333.48 after the craft brewery reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. 

The company reported revenue of $394 million and earnings per share of $1.49. 

Urban Outfitters plunged 9.5% to $42.69 after the apparel retailer reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter results.