In a session marked by volatility, US stocks displayed a partial recovery after an early downturn, though the major indices did not fully recoup their losses.
By the end of trading on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average faced a decline of 375.12 points or 0.98 percent, settling at 38,085. Likewise, the Nasdaq Composite experienced a downturn, lowering by 100.99 points or 0.64 percent, to close at 15,612.95. The S&P 500 was not left untouched, as it decreased by 23.21 points or 0.46 percent, ending the day at 5048.42.
The session was rife with significant corporate news, including Meta Platforms (META) striking setback, as its stock plummeted by 15% percent at one point in early trading, making a recovery of sorts to end the day 10.5% red. The tech giant encountered a rough patch following the release of its second-quarter revenue guidance and capex plans, which failed to meet market expectations, overshadowing the Q1 earnings that had surpassed estimates.
In more tech news, IBM missed expectations for the first quarter, concurrently announcing a considerable acquisition of HashiCorp (HCP) for $6.4 billion. IBM shares finished the day 8. 26% down on the day. Chipotle also delivered well on the day, with strong earnings and same store sales growth seeing the firm end the day 6.33% to the good.
Over in pharma, Astrazeneca soared on impressive earnings, whilst ImmunityBio (NASDAQ: IBRX) added more than 6% today on news of a treatment approval.
A lot of the turmoil from the day was caused early on, as the US economy's first-quarter growth figure emerged at a modest 1.6 percent, short of the anticipated 2.5 percent. The major indexes gapped down on open, and fought back through the day.
The economic narrative continued with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which surged by 3.4 percent in the quarter; excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the increase was even sharper at 3.7 percent. These figures spotlight the persistent inflationary pressures that continue to challenge the economy.
Sectoral performance portrayed a fragmented landscape, with telecom, software, airline, biotechnology, and banking stocks succumbing to selling pressures. Conversely, gold and semiconductor stocks experienced an upsurge, signalling investors' inclination towards specific defensive and growth-oriented segments.
An eye on the global arena revealed Japan's Nikkei 225 Index suffering a notable loss of 2.16 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, however, edged upwards by 0.48 percent. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended the day red (-0.14%), the ASX in Australia ended the day sideways with very little movement, as the Indian NIFTY 50 added an impressive 0.75% ending the day strongly.
On what was a rather mixed day, European markets presented a mixed close, highlighting the varied sentiments across global markets. The FTSE 100 ended the day green (+0.48%) after also appearing to take a sudden turn for the worse as the US economic data was revealed, shedding more than 50 points from the index, while at the time of writing the German DAX40 is 0.95% in the red.
Not an easy day to navigate, but one with plenty of stories under the top. Tomorrow is another day.
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