US: Stocks mixed as markets digest earnings

WALL Street stocks were mixed on Thursday as markets took in a range of company earnings, with the Nasdaq slumping on weak results from Facebook parent Meta while the Dow ended higher.

The movements came after Meta reported a plunge in its quarterly profits, dragging the firm’s shares 24.6 per cent lower.

Google parent Alphabet and Microsoft had earlier reported weak earnings as well, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index closed 1.6 per cent down to 10,792.68.

But the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 per cent at 32,033.28, helped by a better-than-expected performance from companies such as McDonald’s and Caterpillar.

The broad-based S&P 500 Index lost 0.6 per cent to 3,807.30.

This came on the back of data showing that the US economy expanded 2.6 per cent in the third quarter, although economists warned of a less rosy outlook ahead with consumer spending softening and business investment weakening.

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The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slid to 3.94 per cent, falling below the 4 per cent threshold, on hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon pivot from its policy of aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at countering inflation.

A smaller-than-expected rate hike on Wednesday from the Bank of Canada also boosted hopes for a similar shift soon from the Fed. AFP