- The Nasdaq closed 0.28% lower at 14,051 on Wednesday.
- Facebook surged on strong Q1 results including revenue at US$26.17bn.
- Apple soared past Wall Street expectations in Q3 results released yesterday.
The US markets closed lower on Wednesday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell issued a warning about inflation whilst maintaining its key interest rate near zero.
The Dow Jones fell 0.48% to finish the trading day down 165 points to close at 33,820 points .
The tech heavy NASDAQ fell 0.28% to finish the trading day down 39 points to close at 14,051 points.
One bitcoin is worth US$55,100 going into the Asian trading day.
The Australian dollar is firm against the major currencies and is buying 78.06 US cents.
Social media giant Facebook exceeded all analysts? expectations for first quarter results including revenue rising to US$26.17bn, when estimates were US$23.67bn. Monthly active users rose 10% to 2.85bn and net income came in at US$9.5bn, up from US$4.9bn a year earlier.
Apple also soared past Wall Street expectations in Quarter 3 results released yesterday, including sales to China nearly doubling. Sales and profits topped US$89.6bn and US$1.4/share compared to estimates at US$77.4bn and 99c/share. iPhones were the biggest driver of growth but Apple warned the global chip shortage affected revenue in the current quarter for Macs and iPads.
And Uber is expanding its app in the US to enable users to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments and reserve rental cars through partnerships with Avis budget rental group, Hertz and others.