The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 0.6%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2% and the S&P 500 was down 0.1% after midday trading Wednesday as new housing data showed new home sales slipped to 716,000 in August from 751,000 in July.
In company news, Alphabet's (GOOG) Google submitted a complaint to the European Commission against Microsoft (MSFT) for alleged anti-competitive practices, saying the company locks clients into its cloud platform Azure, Google Cloud said in a blog post Wednesday. In its complaint, Google alleges Microsoft was exploiting its dominant Windows Server OS to prevent competition. Shares of Alphabet were down 0.3% after midday, while Microsoft shares were up 0.6%.
Morgan Stanley downgraded General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), Rivian Automotive (RIVN), Magna International (MGA) and Phinia (PHIN) in a Wednesday analyst note, saying the decisions were "driven by a combination of international, domestic and strategic factors that we believe may not be fully appreciated by investors." The Ford and GM downgrades were underpinned by Morgan Stanley's expectation for "greater share loss through end of decade (lower normalized units), price/mix headwinds, China, regulatory compliance" and other risk factors driving lower normalized earnings and valuation, the note said. Shares of General Motors and Ford were down 5.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Shares of Rivian, Magna and Phinia were down 5.7%, 4% and 6.6%.
Striking Boeing (BA) machinists are "not interested" in the company's latest 30% general wage hike offer, deeming it "inadequate," the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 said Tuesday in a Facebook post. The jet maker said it would extend the timeline for a vote on the new offer after the union dismissed the initial Friday deadline, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing Boeing. The union said that the 30% wage-hike offer is "progress" but does "not erase" the fact that members received only an 8% wage increase over the past decade. Boeing shares were down 1.6%.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) is planning to reduce its Atlanta flights to 381 per week from 567, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing the company. Beginning in April, the airline will also trim its destinations from Atlanta to 21 from 37, while expanding service in Nashville and adding flights to Hawaii, according to the report. Although Southwest said it is not planning any layoffs of its Atlanta-based staff, as many as 200 flight attendant and 140 pilot positions are expected to be eliminated, and crews will likely need to submit bids to operate from other locations, according to a CNBC report that cited a company memo. Southwest shares were down 2.1%.
Price: 431.67, Change: +2.50, Percent Change: +0.58
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