Stock Market Today: Stocks mixed, Dow eyes best run since December; Tesla slumps

Check back for updates throughout the trading day

U.S. equity futures edged lower in early Wednesday trading, while Treasury bond yields bumped higher into the start of the session, as investors looked to extend the longest winning streak for the S&P 500 in two months amid improving corporate earnings and renewed Federal Reserve interest rate cut hopes. 

Updated at 8:14 AM EDT

Tesla probe report

Tesla  (TSLA)  shares moved lower in early trading following a Reuters report that said the Department of Justice is probing the carmaker's Full Self-Driving claims.

The report says prosecutors are looking into possible acts of "securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers" based on public comments by both the company and its CEO Elon Musk

Tesla shares were marked 3.5% lower in premarket and indicating an opening bell price of $1741.50 each

$TSLA -2.40% premkt

❖ U.S. prosecutors are examining whether Tesla committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about its electric vehicles’ self-driving capabilities, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.https://t.co/VN2GyGiOjY— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) May 8, 2024

Updated at 8:07 AM EDT

Intel trim

Intel  (INTC)  shares extended their 2024 decline in early trading after the chipmaker trimmed its current quarter sales forecast following a move by the Commerce Department to block some of its China-bound exports.

The decision affects chip sales to China handset maker Huawei and will likely mean June quarter sales come in at the lower end of the group's $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion forecast.

Intel shares were marked 1.9% lower in premarket and indicating an opening bell price of $30.10 each, a move that would extend the stock's year-to-date decline to around 37%.

Updated at 7:35 AM EDT

Uber reservations

Uber Technologies  (UBER)  shares are deep in the red after the ride-sharing group posted a wider-than-expected first quarter loss and forecast gross bookings for the three months ending in June that also missed Wall Street  forecasts. 

Uber shares were marked 5.9% lower in premarket to indicate an opening bell price of $66.29 each

$UBER Earnings Snapshot -- Mind the GAAP expenses this Q: pic.twitter.com/7CDdEJRfI2— Brad Freeman (@StockMarketNerd) May 8, 2024

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended modestly higher in yesterday's session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shrugging off a 9.5% slump in Disney  (DIS)  to record its fifth consecutive session gain as treasury yields eased and broader earnings forecasts improved

With around 80% of the S&P 500 reporting so far, collective first quarter profits are set to rise 7.1% from a year earlier to $466 billion, according to LSEG data, an advance of around $4 billion from the start of the earnings season.

Last week's softer-than-expected April jobs report, which showed 175,000 new hires and a headline unemployment rate of 3.9%, has also soothed concerns about accelerating inflation pressures heading into the summer and revived bets on an early September Fed rate cut. 

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last marked 1.5 basis points higher from yesterday's close at 4.479% while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.841% heading into the start of the New York trading session.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.09% higher at 105.501 amid reports of fresh intervention into foreign exchange markets by Japan's Ministry of Finance. The goal is to strengthen the yen.

The yen was last marked at 155.391 against the U.S. dollar.

In other markets, global oil prices were marked firmly in the red following data last night from the American Petroleum Institute that showed a surprise increase in domestic crude stockpiles, suggesting a near-term slump in export demand.

The Energy Department will publish official data later this morning, with WTI crude futures contacts for June delivery marked 65 cents lower at $77.73 per barrel. 

Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 3% for the month, suggest a 7-point opening-bell decline for the benchmark.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, are indicating a 2-point opening-bell gain while those linked to the tech-focused Nasdaq are suggesting a 22-point dip

More Wall Street Analysts:

• Analyst unveils new Nike price target ahead of big summer for sports
• Analysts weigh in on Google-parent Alphabet’s stock after cloud event
• Analysts revamp Disney stock price target after proxy fight

In overseas markets, solid earnings and dovish central bank signaling have lifted both Europe's Stoxx 600 and Britain's FTSE 100 to records, with the former rising 0.42% in Frankfurt and the latter up 0.53% in London.

Overnight in Asia, the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark slipped 0.33% into the close of trading, while the Nikkei 225 ended 1.63% lower in Tokyo at 38,202.37 points.

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