Wall Street Today | Stocks are doing better after earnings now

Stocks faced another volatile session, with traders awaiting more clues on whether the Federal Reserve will be able to pull off a soft landing that brings down inflation without triggering a recession.

The normal pattern is for a stock to rise if a company's earnings are better than expected, but for much of the current reporting season, that just didn't happen. The fact that those post-profit pops are back is a positive sign for the market.

Job openings and the number of times workers quit reached the highest levels on record in March, as a shortage of available workers continued to pressure the U.S. labor market. The Labor Department on Tuesday reported a seasonally adjusted 11.5 million job openings in March, an increase from 11.3 million the prior month. The number of times workers quit their jobs rose to 4.5 million in the same month, slightly higher than the previous record in November of last year.

Oil rose as industry data pointed to a drop in U.S. stockpiles and traders monitored possible European Union curbs on Russian crude.

West Texas Intermediate rebounded above $103 a barrel after sinking more than 2% on Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute reported a drop of about 3.5 million barrels in crude stockpiles, as well as draws in gasoline and distillate holdings, according to people familiar with the figures.

The drought in chip availability that has hit auto production, raised electronics prices and stoked supply-chain worries in capitals around the globe has a new pain point: a lack of chips needed for the machines that make chips, industry executives say.