Reuters news agency reports that the Wall Street stock market closed in negative territory on Thursday (April 25), with the Dow Jones closing down 375.12 points after the United States reported gross domestic product (GDP) figures expanded lower than expected. and inflation remains high In addition, there was a large stock selling pressure after Meta Platforms reported disappointing results for the first quarter of 2024.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 375.12 points, or 0.98%, to 38,085.80 points. The S&P 500 Index closed down 23.21 points, or 0.46%, to 5,048.42 points. The NASDAQ Index closed down 100.99 points, or 0.64%, to 15,611.76 points.
Latest US economic data that was revealed yesterday Shows that the US economy Expanded at the slowest rate in nearly 2 years in the first quarter of 2024, with GDP numbers in the first quarter of 2024 expanding only 1.6% while inflation rose higher. This has caused investors to lower their expectations that the US Federal Reserve or the Fed will start lowering interest rates this year.
US stock market It was also pressured by Meta Platforms’ disappointing first quarter earnings report, which caused the stock to close down nearly 11% and affected market sentiment as well. Three other stocks in the Magnificent Seven, including Alphabet, Amazon.com and Microsoft, also closed in negative territory.
However, shares of Alphabet and Microsoft both rose in after-hours trading. After both companies reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s forecasts, Intel forecast lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue and profits. As a result, the company’s shares fell 8% in after-hours trading.
Communications stocks closed down the most among the 11 sectors calculated in the S&P 500 index, after Meta stocks led the market, while other sectors that closed lower included health, real estate, financials and consumer products. and essential products
Meanwhile, the number of Americans applying for new unemployment benefits decreased more than expected This indicates that the labor market conditions are still tight. Investors keep an eye on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for March. This is the measure of inflation that the Fed cares about. It is scheduled to be published this Friday.
As for individual stocks, International Business Machines (IBM) shares closed down 8% after the company announced it had reached a US$6.4 billion deal. to acquire HashiCorp and reveal lower-than-expected first quarter earnings Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines shares closed down nearly 7% after the airline cut its forecast for new plane deliveries from Boeing in 2024 for the third time, and Caterpillar shares closed down 7% after downgrading. Sales forecast for the second quarter due to decreased demand for construction equipment.
Source: Reuters
Tags: Dow Jones falls points United States reveals GDP expected investors sell tech stocks
