US stocks were mixed on Thursday morning as investors braced for another batch of tech earnings from Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) and dissected a better-than-expected US GDP report.
The tech-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) diverged, with the Dow jumping more than 350 points and the Nasdaq falling 0.7%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up 0.1% at midday.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Wednesday, snapping three straight days of gains for the indices. Stocks have rallied lately on positive signals from Federal Reserve officials concerned about the pace of interest rate hikes ahead of their November meeting, as well as a string of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
But the rally petered out amid two lackluster reports from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT), which raised concerns about slowing economic growth.
On Thursday, Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms (META), slumped the Nasdaq, the day after its second quarterly decline in revenue. Meta stock fell 23% in intraday trading.
“Look, in all areas, technology continues to be lacking. And they’re disappointing — I think what’s most disappointing is the expense,” Brent Thill, principal analyst at Jefferies, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday after Meta earnings.
“I think everyone wants Zuckerberg to rein in spending. The fact that they’re keeping the workforce flat is a good thing, but I think everyone’s calling for tougher measures in terms of downsizing, reduced spending to understand what is happening in this macro storm,” Thill added.
A Commerce Department report released on Thursday delivered positive news on the U.S. economy, showing the country’s gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.6% from July to September after posting two consecutive quarters of growth. negative. Economists polled by Bloomberg had estimated an increase of 2.4%.
“All of the GDP growth was due to a huge change in net foreign trade, contributing 2.8 percentage points, while domestic final demand grew by just 0.5%,” Ian Shepherdson wrote. , chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics in a statement.
Investors also digested earnings from Ford (F) which cut its profit forecast for the year and took on heavy support for its Argo AI self-driving business. Shares of the automaker were down in early trading Thursday.
Also on the earnings front Thursday:
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South West Airlines (LUV): The airline released its results before the bell, forecasting higher revenue in the fourth quarter as travel demand remained strong.
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Shopify (STORE): The The e-commerce company posted a lower-than-expected quarterly loss, while revenue beat expectations after adding more opportunities for merchants to sell and promote their products.
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Caterpillar Inc. (CAT): The construction equipment maker reported better-than-expected earnings despite slowing sales growth in Asia.
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McDonald’s (MCD): The fast-food chain beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue despite currency swings.
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Shell (SHEL): The British oil major announced quarterly profits that more than doubled compared to the same period last year. The oil giant announced that it would buy back $4 billion worth of shares and increase its dividend by 15%.
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Swiss credit (CS): Switzerland posted a loss of $4 billion as the investment bank radically restructures over the next three years.
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Mastercard (MY): The payments giant beat expectations with its latest revenue and profit numbers as strong consumer spending and a return to travel bolstered results amid recession fears.
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Comcast (CMCSA): The cable and entertainment giant reported quarterly earnings above analysts’ estimates as it grapples with industry headwinds. The company said it only added 14,000 broadband subscribers in the third quarter and its ad revenue declined following no Olympics broadcast this year.
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Honeywell International (HON): The conglomerate raised its full-year earnings forecast, while expressing confidence in the outlook for demand amid economic headwinds.
Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) are among companies reporting earnings on Thursday after the bell.
Also on Wall Street’s plate is Twitter’s dramatic acquisition deal. Elon Musk paid a visit to Twitter headquarters ahead of its Friday deadline as banks began sending $13 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. This decision indicates that the agreement is close to closing.
“The $44 billion price tag for Twitter will, in our view, be one of the most overpaid technology acquisitions in the history of high street M&A deals,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a statement. note to customers. “With a fair value we would peg at around $25 billion, Musk buying Twitter remains a major headache that he ultimately couldn’t get out of once the Delaware courts got involved.”
Yields on 10-year Treasury bills hovered around 4% after hitting 4.291% on Monday. A dollar gauge gained after two consecutive days of declines.
Elsewhere, the European Central Bank raised its interest rate by 75 basis points to 2.0%, the highest level since 2008. The ECB plans to increase the pace of interest rates in upcoming meetings .
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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv
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