'Wall Street Couldn't Keep the Upbeat Mood'

Wall Street started Thursday in fine form but didn't end that way. After a mixed batch of earnings reports, the Dow fell 249 points, or 0.7%, to 33,699; the S&P 500 fell 36 points, or 0.8%, to 4,081; and the Nasdaq fell 120 points, or 1%, to 11,789. Stocks have been shaky this week, flipping from gains to losses and back again amid uncertainty about where interest rates and inflation are heading, per the AP. In the bond market, at least, a warning signal is continuing to flash red with yields on longer-term Treasurys well below shorter-term Treasurys. It's an unusual occurrence that has often preceded recessions in the past.

“Wall Street couldn’t keep the upbeat mood,” Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, tells CNBC. “Some traders placed bets that the Fed will have to do a lot more tightening than what Wall Street is pricing in.” On Thursday, shares of casino operators were strong after earnings reports raised optimism about momentum in both Las Vegas and Macau in Asia. MGM Resorts International climbed 7.3%, while Wynn Resorts rose 5.9%. PepsiCo also gained, rising 1.1%, after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the last three months of 2022 than analysts expected.

On the losing end was Baxter International, which dropped 12.2% after the health care company reported weaker quarterly profit than forecast. It also gave a forecast for earnings this upcoming year that fell below Wall Street’s expectations and announced layoffs. Google parent Alphabet fell more than 5% on concerns it was falling behind in the artificial intelligence race. Mattel tumbled 10.2% after the toymaker reported a big decline in sales and weaker profit than expected for the all-important holiday quarter. (More stock market stories.)