Stock market today: Live updates

Ratings agency Fitch lowered its outlook on the long-term default ratings of Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’.

The agency said the move was in line with having reduced China’s outlook to the same extent on April 9. Fitch also downgraded China’s outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’, but reaffirmed its rating at ‘A+’.

Fitch wrote that this “reflects our view that the underlying credit quality of these companies is not expected to exceed that of the state due to their primarily domestic operations and the level of regulation, supervision and government intervention in their sector.

However, the long-term default ratings on the senior debt of both companies were confirmed at “A+”.

Alibaba shares fell 1.31%, while Tencent shares fell 0.53%.

Business optimism in Japan darkened among large companies as the weak yen weighed on households, according to the April Reuters Tankan survey.

The manufacturing confidence index stood at +9, down from +10 the previous month. A positive number means that there are more optimists than pessimists, and vice versa.

The services sector index fell to +25 from +32 the previous month, despite some gains among retailers, Reuters reported.

The Reuters Tankan Index, published monthly, is widely considered a leading indicator of the Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey.

-Lim Hui Jie

A recent rise in margin lending is a wake-up call for the market, according to Thomas Peterffy, founder and president of Interactive Brokers.

Compared to last year’s quarter, margin lending – a type of financing in which investors borrow against their existing assets – increased 30% to $51.2 billion – a record high, it said Tuesday. the investor on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” .

“Margin lending continues to rise, and that’s never a bullish sign,” Peterffy said. “That generally portends a market that’s going to slow down, so that’s what we’re likely to see.”

As an example, the investor cited the market collapse two years ago, when margin lending hit a new all-time high just before the selloff.

However, Peterffy noted that he sees the market rising in the long term as inflation and interest rates remain high.

—Lisa Kailai Han

Here are the stocks that move the most outside of business hours:

• United Airlines — The aircraft carrier’s stock gained nearly 6% after beating analysts’ expectations for its first-quarter results on strong travel demand. United Airline added that it expects to post earnings of between $3.75 and $4.25 per share for its second quarter, higher than the $3.76 expected by analysts. Shares of American Airlines were also trading up 1.5%.
• Autodesk — Software stock slipped 2.4%. Autodesk announced that it will further delay its annual 10-K filing due to an ongoing internal investigation by the audit committee of its board of directors.
• JB Hunt Transport Services — Shares fell more than 5% after the transportation and logistics sector reported weaker-than-expected profits and revenue last quarter. Earnings came in at $1.22 per share, less than the $1.52 analysts expected. JB Hunt’s revenue of $2.94 billion also fell short of the $3.12 billion analysts expected.

—Lisa Kailai Han

Stock futures traded higher Tuesday evening.

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all traded up nearly 0.2% shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

—Lisa Kailai Han