The U.S. stockmarket took a breather on Wednesday, ending the day little changed amid slew of corporate earnings reports, and ahead of some key economic data scheduled for the end of the week.
The Dow Industrial Average closed down fractionally, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq ended slightly higher.
Among the biggest gainers of the day was Tesla, which popped 8% after Tuesday's earnings report. Despite reporting its biggest year-over-year revenue plunge since 2012, CEO Elon Musk promised more affordable cars on the horizon and laid out a plan that will see production on those models start as soon as next year. Musk's reassurance helped send shares higher in trading Wednesday, though Tesla stock is still down 35% on the year.
Meta was scheduled to report earnings after the bell on Wednesday, followed by Microsoft and Google on Thursday to round out a week of mega-cap tech results. Investors are expecting big numbers from the Facebook parent, which is coming off a "year of efficiency," as dubbed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that has seen its margins improve. Last quarter, Meta posted its best sales growth in two years, and the stock has been flying — up more than 40% so far this year.
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Meanwhile, Boeing shares fell more than 2% after the embattled planemaker announced it lost more than $350 million last quarter amid the fallout over a quality-control crisis that was reignited when a door plug blew off an Alaska Air 737 Max in January.
Investors will also be watching some key economic data, starting with GDP numbers for the first quarter, released on Thursday. Policymakers will be closely monitoring the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, also released on Thursday.
The PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy costs and is the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, is likely to show that prices remained elevated in March. Stubborn inflation data has zapped hopes on Wall Street that interest-rate cuts were imminent, with the central bank making it clear that no cuts are coming at least in the near future.
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