Nasdaq, S&P end lower ahead of megacap earnings
REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, on Sept. 19. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower today as chip stocks tumbled and investors await a host of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower today as chip stocks tumbled and investors await a host of corporate earnings.
Shares of Alphabet, the first of the five “Magnificent Seven” megacap stocks that report results this week, rose after the company beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud business and YouTube ad sales.
Microsoft and Meta Platforms are set to report results after the bell, which are expected to provide insight into whether heavy AI investment is translating into better company performances.
Alphabet helped to offset falling chip stocks, weighed by dour forecasts from Advanced Micro Devices and Qorvo.
Meanwhile, shares of Super Micro Computer plunged after Ernst & Young resigned as the company’s accountant. Nvidia was also down.
The Information Technology sector was the biggest sectoral decliner, while Alphabet’s gains lifted the Communication Services sector.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
“Qorvo, Advanced Micro and Super Micro – those are three pretty big moves that are causing a little bit of angst and taking some of the bloom off the rose from the stellar print from Google last night,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
“The clear laser focus is going to be on the stock specific reports and guides,” James said. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 16.01 points, or 0.27%, to end at 5,816.91 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 96.37 points, or 0.52%, to 18,616.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65.14 points, or 0.15%, to 42,167.91.
In economic data, the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized rate, according to the Commerce Department’s advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, slightly below economists’ forecast of 3.0% growth.
A separate report showed U.S. private payrolls growth surged by a higher-than-expected 233,000 jobs in October.
The neck-and-neck race between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was also at the top of investors’ minds ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Starbucks is also set to report earnings after the close.
Eli Lilly fell after missing sales estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
