US OPEN: Wall Street ending week in mixed moods waiting for crucial Tuesday inflation reading

• Wall Street starts the session in a weaker mood
• University of Michigan consumer sentiment index above expectations
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US) tries to stem declines after 2 weakest sessions since 2008
• Lyft (LYFT.US) disappointed with quarterly results indicating Uber's lead
• Global Payments (GP.US) gains after successful financial results

Thursday's session on Wall Street began with weaker sentiment. Investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve may maintain its cycle of rate hikes and restrictive monetary policy longer than thought as inflation in the services sector is rising and the US economy continues to heat up, which, with a very strong labor market, could suggest that the momentum of declining price pressures may weaken. U.S. investors will learn next week's inflation data on Tuesday (2:30 p.m.), which could mean pressure to realize gains at the end of today's week-closing session.

The mood in the first reaction was dampened by a reading of the Michigan index, which showed that consumers are still willing to spend, supporting the 'cautious' narrative of the Fed, which expects that the fight against inflation will not be easy. On the other hand, however, better consumer sentiment may translate into higher corporate revenues, which the indexes ultimately took away in their favor.  

The Michigan Sentiment Index came in above expectations at 66.4, compared to 65 expectations and 64.9 previously.

Expectations Index - 62.3; forecast: 63,1

Current conditions - 72.6 Forecast: 68,5

Annual inflation rate forecast - 4.2%. Previously - 3.9%

Forecast 5-year inflation rate - 2.9%. Previously - 2.9%

Bulls from Alphabet (GOOGL.US) are trying to stop stock sell-off. Company marketing blunder by chatbot Bart AI cost it its two weakest sessions since the financial crisis. Analysts were disappointed by Lyft's weak financial results which showed a possible decline in market share making the company's shares lose the most among US companies today. Two days ago Uber Technologies (UBER.US) reported strong financial earnings.

S&P500 index stocks categorized by market capitalization share. Source: xStation5

US500 chart, D1 interval. The growing strength of supply may suggest an upcoming test of 4000 points located near the 38.2 Fibonacci retracement of the downward wave started in December 2021. In the absence of a dynamic decline, the SMA100 (black line) and SMA200 (red line) averages, if they maintain the current momentum, will probably intersect to form a bullish 'golden cross' formation. Source: xStation5

Company news:

Lyft (LYFT.US) is losing more than 35% as the company disappointed with a loss per share on earnings guidance and issued weak forecasts for Q1 2023 giving way to excellent results from Uber (UBER.US). Beating revenue estimates did not help the stock, which is currently trading near historic lows.

Lyft (LYFT.US) shares, D1 interval. The stock opened today with a massive downward gap, and the RSI cooled to 30 points. The stock was unable to stay above the SMA200 and re-entered the downtrend. However, from the vicinity of $10.5, there may be a countertrend rebound as the company is again trading near the historical lows (December 2022). Source: xStation5