S&P 500 Off Lows as Bets on Mega Rate Hike Ease; Banks Glum on Earnings Miss By

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By Yasin Ebrahim

Fxgecko.com -- The S&P 500 cut losses Thursday, as Federal Reserve officials downplayed the prospect of a 1% rate hike, though disappointing quarterly results from major Wall Street banks fueled recession fears and soured investor sentiment.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, or 164 points, the Nasdaq was down 0.03%. All three major averages were down more than 2% at the lows of the session. 

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) said it would temporarily pause share buybacks after reporting second-quarter earnings that fell short of estimates, sending its shares more than 3% lower.

The Wall Street bank also set aside more money than expected for potential loan losses, raising concerns about the strength of the U.S. consumer.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) also reported a miss on second-quarter earnings, driven by weaker performance in its investment banking business. Its shares recovered to trade flat after falling more than 2%.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), which both report on Friday, were down 1% and 3%, respectively. 

Technology stocks turned positive as Treasury yields retreated after Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller played down the prospect of the Fed rolling out an unprecedented 1% rate hike later this month.  

“You don't want to overdo rate hikes,” Waller said Thursday, adding that the market had got "ahead of themselves" on pricing a 100 basis point hike, though he didn’t rule out the prospect of a larger hike. 

“If that data come in materially stronger than expected it would make me lean towards a larger hike at the July meeting,” he added.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard reportedly also said he would favor a 75 basis point hike at the July meeting.

The odds of a 1% rate hike fell to about 44% from 80% a day earlier, according to Fxgecko.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) gained 2% to help chip stocks erase losses after the chip bellwether reported quarterly results that beat on both the top and bottom lines.

The chipmaker also raised its full-year revenue forecast, helping to cool concerns somewhat about the chip demand outlook following Micron's gloomy outlook a few weeks ago.

Energy was also one of the major decliners as oil prices added to recent losses on concerns that a global recession will dent demand for energy.

APA (NASDAQ:APA), EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG), and Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA), each down more than 3%, led the move lower in energy.

In other news, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell nearly 1% as JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform on worries that “supply and spending hesitations” will weigh on demand.

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