On Wednesday, markets bounced back from the sharp decline that happened on Tuesday. S&P 500 increased by 0.96% to close at 5,000.62. Nasdaq advanced 1.3% to close at 15,859.15 while Dow Jones climbed 0.4% closing at 38,424.27
The latest consumer price index made public on Tuesday was hotter than expected. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI showed that the prices rose by 3.1% for the 12 months ended in January. Markets were anticipating a 2.9% increase. The inflation data reported diminished investors’ rate cut expectations in March. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, after the data reported,the rate cut probability in March decreased to 10%, this data recently was showing a 60% probability of a rate cut in March. In conclusion, markets experienced the worst sell-off since March 2023.
Share price of Coinbase (COIN) and Microstrategy (MSTR) increased by almost 12% each after Bitcoin reached $51,250.00, the highest since December 2021. Bitcoin also reached a $1 trillion market cap today.
Ride-hailing company Lyft (LYFT) announced adjusted earnings that topped estimates. They reported 18 cents per share compared to 8 cents per share expected. Investors responded with enthusiasm that drove Lyft’s share price 35% higher.
Uber (UBER) CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah announced their first share-repurchase program of up to $7 billion. Uber’s CFO also expressed that the program is a symbol of confidence in its financial momentum. To remember, last week, Uber reported earnings that topped estimates. Share prices of Uber closed 15% higher after the announcements.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and executive chairman sold $2.08 billion of shares in the company. It is known that in 2021 Jeff Bezos has planned to sell 50 million Amazon shares before January 31, 2025. Even though some investors say this situation may cause a sell-off, the majority think it probably won’t be the case since the selling of these shares is planned and pre-announced.
Author: Kaan Pinar