NEW YORK - Blockbuster tech earnings helped Wall Street stocks try to stage a turnaround, although recession fears continued to dog markets.
The main US indices fell sharply on Tuesday ahead of results by Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft, but the first quarter performance of the tech giants topped expectations.
That helped Wall Street stock indices move higher at the opening bell, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumping 1.0 percent, although the Dow dipped in the red later in the morning.
Shares in Microsoft jumped eight percent, despite UK regulators blocking the firm's $69-billion takeover of US video game giant Activision Blizzard. Although Microsoft will appeal, the ruling could signal the deal is on the rocks as EU and US regulators have yet to sign off.
Alphabet shares climbed half a percent.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said "the overall body of earnings reporting work for the March quarter since yesterday's close has been quite good, yet the overall reaction has been quite subdued."
Chipotle, Texas Instruments, Visa and PacWest Bancorp were among the other firms reporting.
European markets fell, while Asian markets turned in a mixed performance, following Wall Street losses on Tuesday with lacklustre US consumer data raising concerns about the economic outlook.
"Realisation is dawning that more ominous clouds are gathering over the US economy, causing fresh nervousness for investors," noted Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Those concerns were top of mind for traders after US-based First Republic Bank disclosed it lost more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, intensifying concerns about its long-term prospects after the failures of other mid-sized banks.
Shares of First Republic plunged 49 percent Tuesday, pressuring other regional banks that have been seen as vulnerable. They fell another 20 percent on Wednesday.
Worries about US banks -- three midsize banks went under last month -- weighed on the dollar, which fell to a 13-month low against the dollar.
"Renewed worries around the US banks, and the debt ceiling are among factors that should prevent the US dollar from significantly reversing losses," said SwissQuote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
US lawmakers were set to vote as early as Wednesday on Republican proposals combining steep spending cuts with a hike in the country's borrowing limit, measures rejected by President Joe Biden and Democrats, with the possibility of a catastrophic credit default just weeks away.
Also weighing on sentiment was the question of interest rates, with Sweden's Riksbank on Wednesday hiking its guiding rate by a half-point to 3.5 percent as it tried to rein in double-digit inflation.
Oil prices briefly fell back below $80 per barrel on concerns the uncertain economic will weaken demand for crude.
"Brent crude oil prices have now given up all of their post OPEC+ production cut gains of the last month," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson, warning the cartel and its allies could consider further output cuts if the demand outlook weakens further.
- Key figures around 1330 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 33,518.52 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,852.64 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 15,795.73 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,466.66 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.7 percent at 4,347.71 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,757.27 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,264.10 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 28,416.47 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1050 from $1.0975 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2477 from $1.2409
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 133.59 yen from 133.73 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 88.55 pence from 88.40 pence
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $80.29 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $76.84 per barrel