**All three major stock indexes declined, with the S&P 500 index falling nearly 0.6%;

**U.S. Treasury yields retreated, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury losing the 4.60% mark;

**U.S. Bancorp fell 3.1%, as the bank lowered its full-year interest income forecast.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks fell across the board, with technology stocks performing poorly, and the market sentiment was dampened by the lackluster earnings of several companies. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 45.66 points, or 0.12%, to 37,753.31, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.15% to 15,683.37, and the S&P 500 index fell 0.58% to 5,022.21. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have fallen for four consecutive days, setting the longest streak since January of this year.

Market Overview

Recently, after Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Powell, did not provide any guidance on when interest rates might be lowered, market risk appetite has been hit. Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield stated that the Fed has intensified the market's bearish sentiment. He said that in the short term, stock market trading is mostly range-bound, but any geopolitical event could further drive up oil prices.

Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist at Ameriprise Financial, said, "The market is dealing with several things— inflation is hotter than most people expected, expectations for rate cuts are diminishing, geopolitical tensions are escalating, especially in the Middle East. After a very strong five-month rally, these are excuses for investors to take a breather and for the market to catch its breath."

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According to the FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the market estimates a 43% chance that the Federal Reserve will begin an easing cycle in July. Safe-haven sentiment led U.S. Treasury yields to retreat from a nearly five-month high, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury losing the 4.60% threshold, and the 2-year U.S. Treasury ending the day at 4.93%, which approached 5% earlier this week.

On the individual stock front, technology stocks were sluggish, with Nvidia falling 3.9%, dragging down the chip sector, after poor performance from Dutch ASML sparked market concerns. In addition, Meta and Amazon fell 1.1%, Apple fell 0.8%, and Microsoft fell 0.7%.

Eli Lilly rose 0.5%, as the company's weight loss drug Zepbound showed potential in treating patients with sleep apnea in two late-stage clinical trials. Eli Lilly stated that it plans to present the trial results at an upcoming medical conference and submit them to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and regulatory agencies in other countries by mid-year.Travelers' stock fell by 7.4% after the insurance giant reported its first-quarter earnings, which included a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.69 due to payouts from severe wind and hail storms in the central and eastern United States, missing the market expectation of $4.92.

JB Hunt Transport Services' stock plummeted by 8.1%, marking its largest decline in nearly four years. The company's first-quarter results did not meet Wall Street's expectations, and Morgan Stanley indicated that competition in the intermodal and trucking sectors would hinder the company's capacity utilization in the short term.

U.S. Bancorp's stock dropped by 3.6% as the bank's first-quarter profits declined by 22%, and it revised down its full-year interest income forecast.

United Airlines' stock surged by 17.5%. Despite a temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9, which resulted in a $200 million loss, the airline's first-quarter loss was less than expected, and it provided an optimistic outlook for the second quarter and full-year performance. Additionally, the airline updated its long-term fleet strategy to facilitate deliveries.

In terms of economic data, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on Wednesday that, driven by purchase activity, seasonally adjusted mortgage applications rose by 3.3% for the week ending April 12, marking a second consecutive week of increases.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book indicated that economic growth is moderate, but businesses are concerned that progress in reducing inflation may stagnate.

Crude oil prices fell by over 3%, reaching a three-week low, as growth in U.S. crude oil inventories exceeded expectations, dampening market sentiment. The near-month WTI crude oil contract declined by 3.13%, closing at $82.69 per barrel, while the near-month Brent crude oil contract fell by 3.03%, settling at $87.29 per barrel.

Expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut weighed on gold prices. The COMEX gold futures contract for April delivery at the New York Commodity Exchange fell by 0.80%, trading at $2371.70 per ounce.