Australia

US stocks ended mixed as tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet weighed on the market. 

Australian shares remain closed on Thursday for the Australia Day public holiday.

US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, as another busy day of earnings gave investors a fresh sense of how companies are coping with an economic slowdown and higher interest rates.

The S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1% as the benchmark index extended its losses into a second day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished less than 0.1% higher after spending most of the day in the red. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.2%.

Earnings season is in full swing this week, with investors getting fourth quarter updates from some of the biggest names in markets.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil added 0.43% to $86.50 a barrel while gold gained 0.39% to US$1,944.91.

Australian government bonds edged higher, with the 2 Year rising to 3.07% and the 10 Year climbing to 3.50%. Meanwhile, yields on US Treasury notes continued to decline with the 2 Year dipping to 4.13% and the 10 Year down to 3.45%.

The Australian dollar leaped to 71.00 US cents from its previous close of 70.44. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, dropped to 94.83.

Asia

Stock markets in China and Hong Kong are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in auto and steel shares, as an easing of the yen's recent strength improved the earnings outlook. Suzuki Motor advanced 5.6% after Indian unit Maruti Suzuki's Q3 net profit more than doubled on year. Nippon Steel climbed 4.5% and Isuzu Motors added 2.8%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4% to 27395.01.

India's Sensex fell 1.3% to close at 60205.06 amid declines in US stock futures. Investors and traders seemed unsure about the risk-on rally, said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. While the expectation of less aggressive Fed tightening makes them back riskier assets, recent US corporate earnings have sent mixed signals, Aslam added. Losses on the Sensex were led by financial institutions such as State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank, which fell 4.3% each, and HDFC Bank, which dropped 2.8%.

Europe

European stocks remained in negative territory as downbeat corporate news dampened sentiment on Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.3% while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 both retreated about 0.1%.

"US markets opened sharply lower today as the investor optimism from earlier in the week ran into the reality of a weaker economic outlook," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson wrote. "Microsoft's Q2 numbers were by and large ostensibly positive despite some weak areas; however, downbeat guidance has seen the shares come under pressure."

The British FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% to 7744 points amid a weaker session in global markets while travel and leisure stocks continued their positive streak. Insurer Aviva led a short list of risers, up 3.3%, after reporting a positive update to its general-insurance businesses. British Airways owner IAG rose 2% on the back of easyJet forecasting a return to annual profit supported by strong demand for travel despite the cost-of-living crisis, Michael Hewson said in a note. Amid the top fallers, Ocado closed down 4.9%, while credit-reporting agency Experian was 3.7% lower and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust fell 2.9%. 

North America

US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, as another busy day of earnings gave investors a fresh sense of how companies are coping with an economic slowdown and higher interest rates.

The S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1% as the benchmark index extended its losses into a second day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished less than 0.1% higher after spending most of the day in the red. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.2%.

Earnings season is in full swing this week, with investors getting fourth quarter updates from some of the biggest names in markets.

Microsoft on Tuesday afternoon was the first of the tech titans to report. Its results showed the company recorded its slowest sales growth in more than six years.

That sent Microsoft shares falling, which, combined with gloomy forecasts from companies including 3M, weighed on markets on Wednesday, market watchers said. Microsoft fell 0.6%, though it pared deeper losses earlier in the day. Apple dropped 0.5% and Alphabet, Google's parent, declined 2.5%.

"It's a gut shot when you see Microsoft come out with a fundamental reason to negate the rally we've seen," said John Lynch, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management. "Suddenly people aren't so confident in Tesla and Alphabet."

Quarterly results released early Wednesday did little to assuage investors. Boeing surprised markets with a quarterly loss, but shares recovered to gain 0.3% on the day. Abbott Laboratories stock lost 1.4% after its sales fell, dragged down by a drop in demand for the company's Covid-19 testing kits.

"There's been a little bit of a bias toward risk-off sentiment over the last 24 hours, thanks partly to some weaker-than-expected earnings releases that added to growing concerns about a potential US recession,” said Jim Reid, a Deutsche Bank strategist, in a Wednesday note.

A bright spot was AT&T, whose stock gained 6.6%. The telecommunications company said it had added wireless subscribers in the latest quarter and plans to keep spending heavily on 5G.

The next few weeks of quarterly results are expected to heavily influence the direction of the US stock market, which has kicked off 2023 with strong gains. The S&P 500 has rallied 4.6% this year, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite has jumped 8.1%.