Nasdaq slumps as megacaps, chips fall ahead of Big Tech results
For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.
Job openings stood at 8.18 million in June
Procter & Gamble drops on sales expectations miss
Merck down after cutting annual profit forecast
Indexes: Dow up 0.16%, S&P down 0.46%, Nasdaq down 1.06%
Updated at 11:30 a.m. ET/1330 GMT
By Ankika Biswas and Johann M Cherian
July 30 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq dropped 1% onTuesday as chip and megacap shares took a hit ahead of Big Tech earnings, while strength in financial stocks kept the Dow afloat in anticipation of a key U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision this week.
Microsoft <MSFT.O>, widely seen as a frontrunner in the artificial intelligence race, will release itsquarterly results after markets close. Its stock was down nearly 1%.
Other megacap stocks such as AppleAAPL.O, Amazon.com AMZN.O, Meta PlatformsMETA.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O and Tesla TSLA.O also fell between 0.10% and 2%, as investors refrained from big bets ahead of tech earnings scheduled through the week.
AI favorite Nvidia NVDA.O slumped 5%, leading a sharp erosion in chip stocks and pushing the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX down 2.4%.
At 11:30 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 65.08 points, or 0.16%, to 40,605.01, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 24.87 points, or 0.46%, to 5,438.67 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 184.53 points, or 1.06%, to 17,185.68.
The S&P 500 Financials index .SPSY outperformed its sectoral peers with a 1.3% jump, withan index tracking banks .SPXBK also climbing 1.5%.
Coupled with Tesla's disappointing results, Alphabet's higherexpenditure forecast induced a broad-based market sell-off in the previous week, driven largely bymegacap stocks.
The bar is set high for these highly valued technology behemoths, whose quarterlyresults will be scrutinized for signs they have the momentum to spur further AI-led equity rallies.
"Big Tech has had a great rally and for it to continue, they're going to have to show benefits of AI and the investments they made in it," said Brian Klimke, chief market strategist at Cetera Investment Management.
"If not, we could see more of a rotation into smaller cap stocks and value stocks."
Hopes of early rate cuts have prompted an investor run to mid- and small-cap stocks and away from market dominating tech-related sectors.
The Russell 2000 .RUT small-caps index advanced 0.2% and is poised to sharply outperform the three major U.S. stock indexes in July, while the Dow is set for its best month so far in 2024.
The continued improvement in inflation and an easing jobs market have bolstered expectations of the Fed signaling a cut in September in itspolicy decision on Wednesday. Odds of a 25-basis-point cut are at 88%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
On the data front,a Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey pointed to8.18 million job openings in June, compared to economists' expectation of 8 million, ahead of Friday's Non-farm Payrolls reading.
Among single stocks, Procter& Gamble PG.N slumped 6% after missing expectations forfourth-quarter sales.
Merck MRK.Nlost 10% after the drugmakercut its annual profit forecast, whileCrowdStrike CRWD.O shed 9% after a report that Delta Air Lines DAL.N sought compensation from Microsoft and the cybersecurity firm forthe global cyber outage earlier this month.
Cybersecurity and cloud services company F5 FFIV.O jumped 11.2% after forecasting fourth-quarter results above estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by 1.31-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 62 new 52-week highs, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 92 new highs and 80 new lows.
Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
