Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 30, 2023 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday morning after Fitch downgraded the U.S.’s long-term rating and traders continued to assess the latest batch of second-quarter earnings results.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid by 103 points, or 0.29%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures dipped 0.44% and 0.63%, respectively.
Fitch Ratings lowered the U.S.’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA Tuesday night, citing “expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years.”
Advanced Micro Devices rose 2% in extended trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Meanwhile, SolarEdge Technologies tumbled 12% after missing second-quarter revenue expectations.
Those moves came after a lackluster first day of trading in August in the S&P 500. On Tuesday, the broad market index fell 0.27%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.43%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.15 points, or 0.2%. At one point during the session, the Dow reached its highest level since February 2022.
Earnings season is more than halfway over with results coming in stronger than expected. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported, about 82% have posted positive surprises, according to FactSet data. The earnings beats have added to bullish investor sentiment with stocks continuing this year’s recovery since the third quarter began.
“I think in the last five or six weeks, the lack of the ’23 bear case isn’t the only explanation. I think now it’s a more more plausible 2024, 2025 bull case,” Trivariate Research’s Adam Parker told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday.
“There’s an emerging number of possibilities that seems to make people think, ‘Alright, maybe 2024 earnings…could represent the beginning of a new multi year trend.’ And so that, I think, is gaining steam among investors,” Parker added.
CVS Health, Yum! Brands and Humana are set to report earnings before the open Wednesday.
Traders are also anticipating the July ADP jobs report Wednesday before the open. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a 175,000 increase, which would be lower than the 497,000 rise in the prior month.
— CNBC’s Darla Mercado contributed to this report.