WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their best levels of the day and into negative territory.
The major averages finished the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq edged down 7.23 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,122.45, the S&P 500 fell 23.51 points or 0.4 percent to 6,339.39 and the Dow slid 330.30 points or 0.7 percent to 44,140.98.
The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of upbeat earnings news from tech giants Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Facebook parent Meta Platforms soared by 11.3 percent after the company reported better than expected second quarter results and provided upbeat third quarter revenue guidance.
Shares of Microsoft also surged by 4.0 percent after the software giant reported fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, potentially leading to some profit taking after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
The subsequent pullback on Wall Street also came as traders kept an eye on the latest developments on the trade front ahead of President Donald Trump's tariff deadline on Friday.
During an interview on CNBC's 'Squawk Box,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believes the U.S. and China 'have the makings of a deal' and expressed confidence an agreement would be reached.
Trump announced a trade deal with South Korea in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, with a 15 percent tariff to be imposed on South Korean goods.
Meanwhile, in a separate report, Trump announced a 90-day extension of the 25 percent blanket tariff on Mexican imports as well as 25 percent tariff on cars and a 50 percent tariff on steel, aluminum and copper.
In U.S. economic news, a closely watched report released by the Commerce Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of June.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks came under substantial selling pressure over the course of the session, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 3.1 percent after ending Wednesday's trading at its best closing level in a year.
Qualcomm (QCOM) helped lead the sector lower, plummeting by 7.7 percent despite reporting better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings.
Considerable weakness also emerged among pharmaceutical stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 2.9 percent to a two-month closing low.
Healthcare, oil service and steel stocks also showed significant moves to the downside as the day progressed, while notable strength remained visible among software and computer hardware stocks.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 1.6 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and jumped by 1.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.1 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a modest move back to the upside. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.6 basis points to 4.360 percent.
Looking Ahead
The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report is likely to be in focus on Friday, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on a report on manufacturing activity.
On the earnings front, Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
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