Stocks Tumble on Wall Street as Tech Giants Lead Market Lower
In a widespread washout that stretched across Wall Street, U.S. stocks tumbled on Thursday, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sinking 1.2%. The Nasdaq composite was also 1% lower, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time.
Big Tech stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, led the market lower, with drops of 2% for Apple, 1.4% for Microsoft, and 2.2% for Amazon. This comes after the Nasdaq experienced its worst loss since 2022 on Wednesday.
Unlike much of the last week, Thursday’s losses hit many corners of the market, with smaller stocks falling more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index lost 1.9% after jumping more than 1% in five of the last six days.
The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 also fell after giving up gains from earlier in the day. Domino’s Pizza saw the sharpest loss, dropping 13.7% despite topping analysts’ expectations for profit in the spring.
Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, sank 3.4% after announcing the acquisition of the Chuy’s Tex-Mex chain in a $605 million all-cash deal.
Stocks of chip companies were mixed, with U.S.-traded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. initially rising after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. Nvidia also saw fluctuations in its stock price throughout the day.
The market has seen a shift in momentum over the last week, with investors moving towards smaller stocks and companies tied to the economy’s strength. This comes after an encouraging report on inflation raised expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin easing interest rates in September.
Wall Street is hoping for the economy to remain in a “Goldilocks” state, where it’s not too hot to put upward pressure on inflation but not too cold to slide into a recession. Expectations for stronger profit growth from U.S. companies have also helped to drive stocks.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes were mixed after the European Central Bank held its main interest rate steady, while Asian indexes were also mixed.
Overall, the market saw a significant downturn on Thursday, with tech giants leading the way lower as investors navigate shifting trends and economic indicators.
