Markets declined between April 18 and April 24 as investors grew cautious of equity markets after a slew of quarterly corporate earnings reports were released. 

Markets closed mixed on Tuesday as investors assessed earnings reports that were released by major banks and blue chip stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.1%. 

The best performers by Tuesday’s close were technology and financial stocks. The technology select sector and the financials select sector both rose 0.3%. 

Within financials, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was an anomaly. It reported a net revenue of $12.2 billion, which missed the Street’s consensus by 6.6%. However, the financial institution’s earnings per share for the first quarter of this year beat estimates by approximately 65 cents. 

The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Volatility Index, which is widely recognized as a tool for measuring general market volatility and investor sentiment, fell 0.71% to $16.83 by Tuesday’s close. Values below $20 denote that investors are confident despite looming macroeconomic headwinds.

A bevy of statements made by voting members of Federal Reserve members moved equity markets.

“One more move should be enough for us to then take a step back and see how our policy is flowing through the economy,” Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC.

On the contrary, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard held a slightly hawkish stance.

“The U.S. central bank should continue raising interest rates on the back of recent data showing inflation remains persistent while the broader economy seems poised to continue growing,” President Bullard told Reuters. 

Wednesday marked another day of mixed index movement. The Dow fell 0.2% while the S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq closed with no change.

Major contributors to Wednesday’s movement were the utilities select sector and the real estate select sector. The utilities sector rose 0.8%, and the real estate sector rose 0.6%. The major loser by Wednesday’s close was the communication services select sector, which lost 0.8%.

Chicago’s volatility index declined 2.20% to a value of $16.46, indicating positive investor sentiment. 

Morgan Stanley released its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, reporting $1.70 earnings per share, which beat consensus by three cents. Revenues for the first quarter beat expectations by about 4%. 

Shares of Netflix Corp. dragged down technology stocks, plummeting around 3.2% due to the postponing of password crackdown plans. Management accredited the password crackdown agenda as the major driver of supplementary revenues headed into late this year.

Markets closed in the red on Thursday due to lackluster earnings from corporate giants. The Dow lost 0.3%, the S&P 500 lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq lost 0.8%. 

A majority of the broad sectors declined on Thursday with the consumer discretionary sector and real estate sector leading the way. The consumer discretionary select sector fell 1.5%, the real estate select sector fell 1.2% and the communication services select sector fell 1%.

Tesla Inc. reported $0.85 earnings per share for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, beating consensus by two cents. But net income plummeted 24.0% to $2.51 billion as compared with the first quarter of the 2022 fiscal year.

By Friday’s close, all three of the major stock indexes rose 0.1%. For the overall week, the indexes moved lower, with the Dow losing 0.2%, S&P 500 shedding 0.1% and the Nasdaq dropping 0.4%. The volatility index declined 2.5% to $16.77 denoting investor confidence.

Six out of 11 of the broad sectors gained on Friday with consumer discretionary sector and materials sector being the major market movers. Consumer discretionaries increased 1.1%, and materials lost 0.9%. 

On Monday, the Dow grew 0.2%, the S&P 500 grew 0.1% and the Nasdaq retracted 0.3%. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell to 3.514% from 3.570% as of Friday’s close. 

First Republic Bank reported earnings after close, withstanding a 40% decrease in total deposits and a 33.0% year-over-year profit decrease.

Investors should remain vigilant of comments made by voting members of the Fed. Corporations focused on lucrative avenues of macroeconomic hedging may make a robust investment at this time.