S&P 500 heads for fourth-straight loss, Nasdaq drops 1% as Nvidia slides: Live updates (2024)

United shares headed for their best day in multiple years amid a post-earnings rally.

The airline climbed nearly 14% after reporting anarrower-than-expected lossand beating on revenue. If that holds through the session's close, it would be the biggest one-day advance since November 2020, when the stock jumped over 19% in a day.

United Airlines, 1 day

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite over the last 5 days

Rising interest rates do not necessarily signal that stocks are due for a big pullback, according to BMO strategist Brian Belski.

"Our work shows that investors should not fear higher rates, despite current conventional thinking to the contrary. In fact, we found that some of the strongest periods of S&P 500 performance have coincided with rising or higher levels of interest rates over the past few decades," Belski said in a note to clients.

But even if stocks do rise along with rates, that does not mean it will be smooth sailing.

"The era of 'easy money' investing is likely behind us, and the transition to a more "normal" rate structure is likely to be challenging causing many fits and starts for market performance in the coming months as it adjusts to this reality, in our view," Belski added.

— Jesse Pound

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF and VanEck Steel ETF headed for their first positive day in four during Wednesday's session.

The gold miner's fund was last up 2.5% and headed for its best day since April 5. Evolution Mining, Agnico Eagle and AngloGold rose about 2% each, contributing to those gains.

Last week, the fund hit a golden cross pattern when its 50-day moving average rose above its 200-day moving average. It comes as gold sits near record highs.

The VanEck Steel ETF rose 1% during Wednesday's session, led to the upside by Rio Tinto, Vale, Cleveland-Cliffs and Algoma Steel. All four stocks were last up more than 2% each.

— Samantha Subin

The U.S. dollar is up 2.8% against the Brazilian real so far this week, and is on pace for the seventh straight weekly gain.

It is also on pace for the best week since Aug. 4, 2023, when the dollar gained 2.95% against the real.

— Gina Francolla, Michelle Fox

Obesity drugmakers keep making the case that treating weight loss helps with other medical conditions. That argument was strengthened Wednesday with the release of new clinical trial data from Eli Lilly.

The company showed its tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, can help patients with obstructive sleep apnea reduce the number of episodes of irregular breathing they experience by as much as two-thirds.

Eli Lilly shares over the past year.

Eli Lilly shares were up nearly 3% in premarket trading, as investors bet the news will help expand use of the pricey treatment. Meanwhile, companies that make sleep apnea treatments such as CPAP devices fell. These stocks include ResMed, which was down 2.6%; Nyxoah, down 3.2%; Philips, down 2.3%; and Inspire Medical, which slipped about 1%.

Morgan Stanley analyst Terence Flynn said the data does "further bolster the case" for doctors to prescribe the treatment and insurers to cover it. He said it also provides a route for people covered by Medicare to gain access.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

United Airlines shares surged after the carrier forecast stronger-than-expected earnings for the second quarter despite ongoing delivery slowdowns from Boeing.

The airline's first-quarter loss came in narrower than expected due to strong travel demand and revenue, even though it took a $200 million hit from the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 after a door panel blew out of one of those jets minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Other airline stocks rallied along with United. Delta Air Lines, which reported strong travel demand drove a second-quarter forecast that topped analysts' expectations last week, was up 3%. American Airlines, which reports results on April 25, was up 5%.

Boeing shares were down slightly in morning trading. The company is the focus of two aviation safety Senate hearings on Wednesday, including one featuring a whistleblower that has alleged structural flaws on Boeing's Dreamliner planes, which the manufacturer denies and calls "inaccurate."

— Leslie Josephs

The three major averages opened higher on Wednesday.

The Dow, and Nasdaq Composite all traded higher by around 0.4% shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET.

— Alex Harring

Here are some of the names moving before the bell.

• Eli Lilly, ResMed — Eli Lilly added 2.6% after announcing its weight loss drug Zepbound showed the potential to treat patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Shares of ResMed, which makes devices to treat the sleep-related breathing disorder, fell 2.6% on the news.
• Travelers — The stock tumbled nearly 6% after the insurance company reported disappointing earnings and revenue for its first quarter. Travelers said the earnings miss was driven by an elevated level of catastrophic losses.
• Alcoa — The aluminum stock gained 3% after reports that President Joe Biden will propose tripling the China tariff rate on steel and aluminum imports on Wednesday. Alcoa is also set to report earnings after the bell.

To see more stocks making premarket moves, read the full story here.

— Michelle Fox

Iran's navy commander is escorting the country's commercial ships to the Red Sea, Commander Shahram Irani said in Google-translated comments reported by Iranian outlet Tasnim.

"We escort our ships from the Gulf of Aden to the mouth of Suez and we are ready to protect the ships of other countries as well," he said.

The comments come after Iran over the weekend delivered its first-ever direct attack against Israel off its territories. The Jewish state and its allies intercepted the majority of the missiles and drones launched as part of the attack, with Israel now weighing retaliatory measures.

Critically, the Red Sea houses the shortest trade route between Europe and Asia-Pacific, which has been disrupted in recent months by maritime attacks perpetrated by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.

— Ruxandra Iordache

UBS anticipates the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield will eventually fall back below 4%. The Wall Street firm said the Federal Reserve will eventually have to ease, even after Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday warned interest rates may have to stay higher for longer. The 10-year yield was last above 4.6%.

"With rate cuts delayed, rather than canceled, in our view, we still expect the yield on the 10-year US Treasury to end the year around 3.85%, down from around 4.66% at present," Solita Marcelli wrote in a Wednesday note.

"While we have recently lowered our expectations on the timing and magnitude of Fed rate cuts, we believe the US central bank remains on track to cut rates twice this year, most likely starting at its September meeting," Marcelli wrote. "This means the return outlook for quality bonds remains positive and attractive, and that recent losses in fixed income are likely to be temporary."

U.S. 10-year Treasury yield

U.S. Bancorp dropped more than 3% during Wednesday premarket trading on the back of weaker-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.

The Minnesota-based bank reported 78 cents earned per share when accounting for generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had anticipated 84 cents in earnings per share.

Net revenue came in slightly better than estimated, on the other hand. U.S. Bancorp posted $6.72 billion, slightly ahead of the consensus forecast of $6.71 billion.

U.S. Bancorp is one of several regional banks reporting financials this week. CNBC Pro subscribers can click here for exclusive insights on what to expect from the group.

— Alex Harring

Travelers Companies shares slipped more than 2% in Wednesday's premarket after the insurance provider's first-quarter earnings underwhelmed analysts.

The Minnesota-based company reported $4.69 in earnings per share on $10.18 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG had forecast $4.90 in earnings per share on revenue of $10.51 billion.

The Dow-listed stock has climbed more than 17% in 2024.

— Alex Harring

In a regulatory filing, Tesla asked shareholders to revote on a $56 billion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.

"The 2018 CEO pay package required Elon to deliver transformative and unprecedented growth to earn any compensation," Tesla said in the filing. "The 2018 CEO pay package built in further incentives to benefit Tesla stockholders by requiring that Elon hold onto any shares he receives when he exercises his options for fiveyears — which means he will continue to be driven to innovate and drive growth at Tesla because the value of his shares will depend on it."

The move comes after a Delaware court ruled the company had to rescind the pay package earlier this year. Tesla shares were up 1% in the premarket.

— Fred Imbert

Shares of Capri Holdings were down 3% after The New York Times' Dealbook reported the Federal Trade Commission was getting ready to block the company's $8.5 billion takeover of Tapestry, the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade.

The deal was announced in August. Tapestry shares were flat in the premarket.

— Fred Imbert

Ratings agency Fitch cut its outlook on long-term default ratings for Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent to "negative" from "stable."

The agency said that the move is in line with it cutting China's outlook by the same extent on April 9. Fitch also slashed the outlook on China from "stable" to "negative," but reaffirmed its rating at "A+"

Fitch wrote that this "reflects our view that the underlying credit quality of these companies should not exceed that of the sovereign due to their predominantly domestic businesses and the level of government regulation, oversight and intervention in their sector."

The long-term default ratings on the two companies' senior debt however, were affirmed at "A+."

Shares of Alibaba were down 1.31%, while Tencent shares slipped 0.53%.

Exports from Japan rose 7.3% year on year in March, slowing from the 7.8% gain seen in February.

The figure however, was larger than the 7% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Imports to the country fell 4.9% compared with the same period last year, a reversal from the 0.5% gain in February.

As such, Japan's trade surplus climbed to 366.5 billion yen ($2.37 billion), compared with the 299.9 billion yen expected in the Reuters forecast.

— Lim Hui Jie

Business optimism in Japan darkened among large firms as the weak yen weighed on households, according to the Reuters Tankan survey for April.

The sentiment index for manufacturers stood at +9, down from the previous month's +10. A positive number means optimists outnumber pessimists, and vice versa.

The services sector index fell to +25 from +32 in the previous month, despite some gains by retailers, Reuters said.

The Reuters Tankan index, released monthly, is widely considered as a leading indicator of the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey.

— Lim Hui Jie

A recent uptick in margin loans is flashing warning signs for the market, according to Thomas Peterffy, the founder and chairman of Interactive Brokers.

Compared to the year-ago quarter, margin loans – a type of financing in which investors borrow against their existing assets – rose 30% to $51.2 billion — an all-time high, the investor said on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" on Tuesday.

"Margin loans keep rising, and that's never a bullish sign," Peterffy said. "That usually foretells a market that is going to slow down, so that is what we're probably going to be seeing."

As an example, the investor pointed to the market collapse two years ago, when margin loans rose to another all-time high right before the sell-off.

However, Peterffy noted that he sees the market rising over the long term as inflation and interest rates stay high.

— Lisa Kailai Han

These are the stocks moving the most in after-hours trading:

• United Airlines — The aircraft carrier stock gained nearly 6% after beating analyst expectations for its first-quarter results on the back of strong travel demand. United Airline added that it expects to post earnings of between $3.75 and $4.25 per share for its second quarter, higher than the $3.76 analysts were expecting. Shares of American Airlines were also trading 1.5% higher.
• Autodesk — The software stock slid 2.4%. Autodesk announced that it will further delay its annual 10-K filing due to an ongoing internal investigation by the company's audit committee of its board of directors.
• J.B. Hunt Transport Services — Shares fell more than 5% after the transportation and logistics posted weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue last quarter. Earnings came out to $1.22 per share, less than the $1.52 analysts had expected. J.B. Hunt's $2.94 billion revenue also fell short of the $3.12 billion analysts had anticipated.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Stock futures traded higher Tuesday night.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all traded close to 0.2% higher shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

— Lisa Kailai Han