Wall Street muted ahead of Alphabet earnings By Reuters

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

(Reuters) – Wall Street was little changed on Tuesday as investors assessed a host of corporate results and awaited Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s earnings later in the day.

“Magnificent Seven” member Alphabet’s shares rose 0.35% ahead of its results due after market close, where it is expected to post its slowest revenue growth in four quarters.

This week marks the busiest period for earnings, with eyes on five of the “Magnificent Seven” group of stocks that are reporting quarterly results.

The group’s results will be crucial to determining whether Wall Street can sustain the optimism around technology and artificial intelligence that has lifted indexes to record highs this year.

However, rate-sensitive stocks were under pressure as bond yields continued to rise, with the benchmark breaching the 4.3% level for the first time since early July.

“It does look like the curve is normalizing, but I do think (yields) will move down at the end of the election and whenever we get more data showing the Fed’s view of inflation versus jobs is correct,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:) was trading 0.2% lower, while Apple (NASDAQ:) was flat.

There were plenty of earnings for investors to sift through. Vans parent VF Corp (NYSE:) jumped 27.9% after the company reported a profit for the first time in two quarters.

Ford (NYSE:) slumped nearly 8% after the automaker said on Monday it expects to hit the lower end of its annual profit forecast.

D.R. Horton dropped 12.7% on Tuesday after the homebuilder forecast 2025 revenue below estimates, while McDonald’s (NYSE:) dipped 2.4% after reporting a drop in global sales.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s JOLTS survey showed job openings were at 7.44 million in September, compared with estimates of 8 million, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

A separate report showed consumer confidence stood at 108.7 in October, higher than the estimated 99.5.

Traders added to bets on further reductions to U.S. short-term borrowing costs after the data, which helped stock indexes pare some initial losses.

The rose 19.94 points, or 0.05%, to 42,407.51, the S&P 500 gained 0.86 points, or 0.01%, to 5,824.38, and the gained 22.83 points, or 0.12%, to 18,590.02.

The communication services sector, housing Alphabet and Meta (NASDAQ:), was the top sectoral gainer, while utilities fell to the bottom.

With earnings, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the upcoming U.S. elections and a Fed meeting, investors are anticipating a volatile few weeks.

The has risen above 20 from below 15 in September.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 33 new lows.