WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, with the Dow joining the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 in negative territory after seeing some strength early in the session.
After ending Wednesday's trading at a record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop, plunging 377.33 points or 1.6 percent to 23,581.14.
The S&P 500 also slumped 68.25 points or 1.0 percent to 6,822.34, while the narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, slipping 109.88 points or 0.2 percent to 47,522.12.
The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from tech giants Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Facebook parent Meta plunged by 11.3 percent to a five-month closing low after reporting better than expected third quarter results but forecasting an increase in AI spending.
Software giant Microsoft also tumbled by 2.9 percentafter reporting fiscal first quarter results that exceeded estimates but also saying capital spending growth will accelerate this fiscal year.
On the other hand, shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) jumped by 2.5percent after the Google parent reported third quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Drug giant Eli Lilly (LLY) also surged by 3.8 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results and boosting is full-year revenue guidance.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off seemingly positive developments out of President Donald Trump's highly anticipated meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The U.S. has agreed to reduce fentanyl-linked tariffs on China to 10 percent from 20 percent, while China has agreed to resume purchases of U.S. soybeans
China will also suspend the implementation of new export controls on rare earths, and in return, the U.S. will suspend its 50 percent penetration rule on export controls.
Sector News
Software stocks moved sharply lower amid the slump by Microsoft, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 2.2 percent.
Considerable weakness also emerged among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
Steel, computer hardware, retail and semiconductor stocks also came under pressure on the day, while gold networking and pharmaceutical stocks turned in strong performances.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally higher and South Korea's Kospi Inched up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets showed a lack of direction over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both ended the day roughly flat.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the notable downward move seen late in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.5 basis points to 4.093 percent.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Friday may be driven by reaction to earnings news from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), which are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
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