US close: Stocks mixed as industrials shine, big tech tanks

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street was mixed at the close on Thursday, with the Dow stronger on GDP data, while the Nasdaq was under pressure from some disappointing big tech earnings.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.61% at 32,033.28, while the S&P 500 fell 0.51% to 3,807.30 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.63% to 10,792.68.

The Dow closed 194.17 points higher on Thursday, reversing some of its earlier gains but still outperforming its two-point rise on Wednesday.

“US growth stocks are failing to live up to their name of late, with the collapse in Meta shares driving the tech sector lower once again,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“Underperformance for the Nasdaq comes amid a session that does see continued optimism for many traditional businesses.

“Most notably, we are seeing the Dow outperform as manufacturing stocks gaining in the wake of improved demand and margins for industrial giant Caterpillar.

“It seems the hefty valuations based around future earnings for growth stocks can come back to bite investors when current numbers start to underperform.”

On the data front, the US economy bounced back in the third quarter, according to data released earlier by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.6%, coming in ahead of expectations for a 2.4% increase and marking the first jump this year after six months of contraction.

In the second quarter, GDP contracted by 0.6%.

The biggest contribution to growth in the third quarter came from a narrowing of the trade deficit, as US retailers imported fewer items.

Elsewhere, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 22 October, increasing by 3,000 from the prior week's unrevised level to a total of 217,000.

According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average came to 219,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's unrevised average.

Finally, new orders for durable goods rose 0.4% in September, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 0.2% print for August and beating market expectations for another 0.2% reading.

Across the pond, rate-setters in Frankfurt went ahead with a 75 basis point interest rate hike but refrained from any mention of quantitative tightening.

In its policy statement, the European Central Bank did say that policymakers expected to raise rather "further" whilst sticking to their meeting-by-meeting approach.

Looking at equities, disappointing results from Meta Platforms overnight were in focus, with shares in the Facebook parent company plunging 24.56% on the back of weak fourth-quarter guidance and weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Meta also cautioned that it would now lose even more money in 2023 due to its efforts to further develop its ambitious metaverse, a revelation that led to multiple analysts downgrading the stock.

Outside of the tech space, trade bellwether Caterpillar closed up 7.71% after the industrial giant beat expectations with its latest set of quarterly results.

McDonald's was ahead 3.31% after it posted an earnings beat, as diners continued to patronise the fast food behemoth despite increased prices.

Shipping giant Merck was 1.35% firmer, after it also lifted its full-year profit guidance following third-quarter sales and profit beats, with annual sales seen at between $58.5bn and $59.0bn.

It was another big evening for tech earnings on Thursday as well, with Apple, Amazon and Intel all reporting after the closing bell.

Apple was down 3.05% at the end of the session and was last down another 1.52% in after-hours action, after it beat on earnings but posted a miss in sales of its iPhone range.

Amazon slid 4.06% before the bell and was last tumbling 15.51% after-hours, after revenue and sales at AWS missed expectations, while the e-commerce behemoth said it was looking to break even in the key fourth quarter, compared to previous analyst forecasts for at least $5bn in operating profit.

Finally in tech, chipmaker Intel settled the trading day 3.45% lower but was last climbing 6.4% in the after hours, after its PC chip sales beat market expectations and it laid out plans for $3bn in cost cutting next year.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $212.14 7.71%
Boeing Co. (BA) $139.76 4.46%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $265.11 3.31%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $99.74 1.35%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $177.60 0.68%
Visa Inc. (V) $204.29 0.47%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $177.90 0.46%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $35.67 0.45%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $337.18 0.44%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $124.60 0.39%