Stock market today: Live updates – MASHAHER

The three major averages opened higher on Wednesday.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all traded higher by around 0.4% shortly 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% higher 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 reporting disappointing earnings and revenue for its first quarter. Travelers said the earnings miss was driven by an elevated level of catastrophe 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. Bancorp dropped more than 3% in 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 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. But analysts polled by LSEG had forecasted $4.90 earned per share on revenue at $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 five years — 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