Stocks stage rebound even as Netflix sinks

U.S. equity markets reversed early losses Wednesday as the major averages looked to bounce back from two days of selling. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 100 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite inched higher by 0.28% and 0.07%, respectively. The major averages on Tuesday suffered their biggest decline in a month as the number of COVID-19 cases rose worldwide.

Energy and communication stocks saw early weakness, while healthcare rose. 

In stocks, Netflix Inc. added 3.98 million subscribers in the three months through March, well below the 6.2 million new users that were expected, and warned that it anticipated adding only 1 million subscribers in the current quarter. Both earnings and revenue exceeded expectations.

Verizon Communications Inc. lost a larger than expected 178,000 wireless customers last quarter amid increased competition from rivals AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. 

Elsewhere in earnings, oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. swung to a quarterly profit as oil prices bounced and drilling demand picked up from the COVID-19 induced slowdown. 

Rival Baker Hughes Co. said it was "cautiously optimistic" that the oil industry has moved past the worst of its COVID-19-induced slump. The company reported mixed quarterly results as revenue fell 12% year over year.