In brief
U.S. stock indices closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow falling 132.54 points as Alphabet’s shares dropped over 12%. The Nasdaq slipped more than 1%, while oil prices fell on hopes for U.S.-Iran peace talks.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 132.54 points, or 0.25 percent, to 52,342.56, as Alphabet’s shares plunged more than 12% amid renewed concerns about the cost of artificial intelligence investment (Xinhua).
The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 23.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,720.39, and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 365.13 points, or 1.38 percent, to 26,184.72, both reflecting sharp losses in technology‑related names (Xinhua).
Only eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors finished in the green, with technology, information services and consumer services dominating the losses (Xinhua).
Oil prices settled lower as hopes for renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks offset concerns over Middle East supply disruptions. Brent crude futures closed down 44 cents, or 0.38 percent, at $114.88 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled 78 cents lower at $102.00 a barrel (Xinhua).
On the corporate front, Alphabet reported third‑quarter revenue of $127.58 billion, up 25 percent year‑on‑year but below expectations, and net income of $26.17 billion, with a negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion (Xinhua). Microsoft edged lower even as Azure cloud growth of 48 percent drove strong quarterly results; Caterpillar fell more than 9 percent, weighing on the Dow; ServiceNow plunged about 27 percent, and Marvell dropped 13 percent (Xinhua). Eli Lilly added more than 6 percent after raising its revenue outlook, while Amazon and Intel fell ahead of their results after the close (Xinhua).
CNN reported that Alphabet’s drop erased roughly half a trillion in market value, underscoring the scale of the slide (CNN).
