Shares of chipmaker ASML lost 2.6% in early morning trading even after the company posted an earning beat for the first quarter.

ASML reported a decrease in net bookings for the first quarter of 46% year-over-year, citing “mixed signals” from customers as they work through inventory.

The negative reaction also follows more negative news from the chip space – including Micron, which posted its worst quarter in history and Samsung, whose recent first-quarter profit hit an 8-year low.

— Kristina Partsinevelos, Tanaya Macheel

Shares of Travelers gained 4% before the bell after the insurance company surpassed Wall Street’s expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

The Dow member reported adjusted earnings of $4.11 a share on $9.40 billion in net written premiums. Refinitiv estimates called for EPS of $3.55 and net premiums of $9.19 billion.

Travelers’ quarterly profit declined year-over-year as the company grappled with higher catastrophe losses amid a period of heightened severe weather incidents.

Mortgage applications to buy a home declined by 10% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

At the same time, the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances rose to 6.43%, up from 6.30% the week prior.

Elsewhere, applications to refinance a home loan fell 6% for the week, and declined 56% year over year.

— Diana Olick, Samantha Subin

Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.22% in early trade, with tech stocks leading losses to fall 1.2%.

The index hit a 14-month high on Tuesday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.3% and Germany’s DAX fell 0.2%, though France’s CAC 40 had a narrow gain of 0.05%.

U.K. inflation unexpectedly held above 10% in March, fueling expectations the Bank of England will hike by 25 basis points at its May meeting after pay growth slowed by less than expected.

The consumer price index came in at 10.1%, down from 10.4% in February but ahead of the dip to 9.8% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Downward moves were driven by motor fuels, and housing and household services, while food and recreation/culture became more expensive.

Prices were up by 0.8% month on month.

Core CPI, excluding energy and food, was unchanged at 5.7%.

— Jenni Reid

Malaysia’s total trade in March came in at RM232.7 billion ($52.51 billion), 1.6% lower as compared to the total value of RM236.5 billion seen in the same month of preceding year.

While exports from the country dropped by 1.4% year on year to RM129.7 billion in March, smaller than the 3.5% fall anticipated by economists, imports posted a surprise as it recorded a fall of 1.8% to RM103 billion, compared to a 1.9% growth expected.

Malaysia said this was due to imports of intermediate goods falling by 8.7% in March compared to a year ago.

The country’s trade balance climbed 0.2% year on year to a surplus of RM26.7 billion, higher than economists expectations of RM21.1 billion.

— Lim Hui Jie

Analysts at JPMorgan, Citi and UBS raised their full-year forecasts for China’s economy after it delivered an impressive first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 4.5% on Tuesday.

JPMorgan raised its 2023 growth outlook to 6.4%, up from a previous forecast of 6%, saying the latest quarterly report points to further growth ahead.

Citi economists also raised its full-year outlook to 6.1% from 5.7% year-on-year, saying China’s consumption recovery is “halfway.”

UBS also raised its forecast for the year from 5.4% to 5.7%, saying “given the stronger-than-expected recovery in Q1 2023, driven by both a robust rebound in consumption and property.”

– Jihye Lee

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will deliver in a speech the economic priorities for the U.S. on China, Reuters reported.

“During her remarks, Secretary Yellen will underscore that in its bilateral relationship with China, the United States proceeds with confidence about the enduring fundamental strength of our economy,” Reuters said, citing a statement from the Treasury Department.

This comes after Yellen said that the U.S. will resume economic talks with China “at an appropriate time” earlier this year as Beijing continues to sell its vast stock of U.S. Treasurys.

Yellen will deliver a speech at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies on Thursday, the report said.

– Jihye Lee

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is set to become the first major bank to issue Additional Tier 1 bonds since the banking turmoil suffered by Swiss lender Credit Suisse, Nikkei reported.

SMFG will issue 140 billion yen ($1 billion) of these bonds, commonly known as AT1 bonds. They are considered a relatively risky form of junior debt, therefore come with a higher yield and are often bought by institutional investors.

Confidence in AT1 bonds were shaken after Swiss authorities forced the Credit Suisse to write down the value of its AT1 bonds to zero as part of a government-orchestrated rescue by its bigger rival UBS.

Nikkei said the terms of SMFG’s offer will be decided on Wednesday, adding that its AT1 bonds will carry a spread of 171 basis points over government debt, representing an increase of 33 basis points from the previous issuance in December.

SMFG shares were trading 0.25% up on Wednesday.

— Lim Hui Jie

Regional bank stock Western Alliance popped 13% in extended trading after the company said in its first-quarter that deposits have stabilized since last month’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Western Alliance said it had $47.6 billion in deposits at the end of March, down about 11% from $53.6 billion at the end of December. The bank said it saw non-interest bearing deposits and savings and money market accounts decline, but deposits in interest-bearing accounts and certificates of deposits increased.

Those deposit issues may have been less than some investors feared, and Western Alliance said things have been improving. The company said that it added another $2 billion in deposits in the first two weeks of April, and that more than 70% of its deposits are insured.

The bank’s net revenue of $552 million did miss analyst estimates of $666 million, according to Refinitiv, and net income of $142.2 million was down more than 50% from the fourth quarter.

Shares of Western Alliance were down 45% year to date as of Tuesday’s close.

— Jesse Pound

Stock futures were mostly flat Tuesday with all three major indexes heading lower.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 23 points, or 0.06%, while S&P 500 futures lost 0.05% and Nasdaq futures pulled back 0.12%.

— Brian Evans