US markets today: Wall Street drifts near record highs as Marvell jumps; Macy’s sinks on high expectations

Wall Street drifted in early trade on Wednesday as mixed corporate earnings left the major indices little changed, even as the S&P 500 stayed within 1% of its all-time high set in late October.The day also saw rising consumer-facing angst and stock-specific swings, with social media chatter adding to volatility in pockets of the market.Marvell Technology surged 5.6% after reporting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, with CEO Matt Murphy citing firm demand for data-centre products while announcing a $3.25 billion acquisition of Celestial AI to strengthen its artificial-intelligence infrastructure portfolio, according to AP.American Eagle Outfitters rallied 14.5% after delivering a better profit than expected. CEO Jay Schottenstein said the company saw a strong start to the holiday season with demand accelerating over the Thanksgiving weekend.But Macy’s fell 1.4%, despite posting a quarterly profit that sharply beat expectations. The department-store chain entered the session with a 34.1% year-to-date gain — more than double the S&P 500’s rise — raising the bar for investors and weighing on the stock.Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike dropped 2.4% even after topping profit forecasts, following a similar pattern of high expectations after a 51% jump so far this year.In one of the day’s biggest moves, Capricor Therapeutics soared 488% after reporting encouraging trial results for a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Bond yields eased after private payroll data from ADP suggested U.S. employers may have cut more jobs than they added in November. While historically an imperfect predictor of the U.S. government’s employment report, the weak reading helped reinforce expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next week — which would be the third this year.The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.06% from 4.09% late Tuesday. Lower yields supported broader risk sentiment, with bitcoin climbing back above $92,000 after last month’s sharp drop below $81,000.Global markets were mixed. Europe traded flat, while Asia ended on a softer note. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% on gains in technology stocks, including Tokyo Electron, up 4.7%, and SoftBank Group, up 6.4% after reports that founder Masayoshi Son regretted selling Nvidia shares to fund other investments. Chinese markets fell, with Hong Kong down 1.3% and Shanghai down 0.5% after data showed weaker factory activity.