US: Stocks slump after gloomy Tesla and bank results

WALL Street stocks ended lower on Thursday following lackluster corporate results from electric vehicle maker Tesla and several regional banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.3 per cent lower at 33,786.62, while the broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.6 per cent to 4,129.79.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 0.8 per cent to 12,059.56.

“Earnings alone are dragging stocks down as Tesla deals with its margin problem,” said Edward Moya of Oanda in a note.

Shares of Tesla slumped 9.8 per cent as it reported a fall in quarterly earnings while hinting that it could face further profit pressures from more price cuts on its vehicles.

Moya added that data also shows that the US economy is weakening.

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Meanwhile, shares of regional banks including KeyCorp, Zions Bancorporation and Comerica slumped after earnings reports signaling the impact of an industry panic after the swift collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

And with with the heaviest earnings period coming up, Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said: “The market is a little bit on edge.” AFP