Tech stocks fell on Thursday, though Amazon and Apple shares climbed in after-hours trading following their latest earnings releases.
Earlier in the session, disappointing post-earnings reactions from Meta Platforms and Microsoft weighed on the broader market, pushing the Nasdaq Composite down 1.6%.
Meta’s stock tumbled 11% after the company announced plans to boost spending to stay competitive in the artificial intelligence race. The news also sent yields on Meta’s bonds higher as it finalized pricing for a $30 billion jumbo debt sale.
Meanwhile, the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields extended Wednesday’s advance. Traders scaled back expectations for a December rate cut after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that such a move was far from certain.
Attention also turned to U.S.-China relations following the first in-person meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping in six years. The U.S. said it would reduce tariffs on Chinese goods, while Beijing agreed to ease restrictions on rare-earth exports and tighten control over chemicals used to produce fentanyl.
Markets had rallied earlier in the week in anticipation of a major trade breakthrough, but the actual agreements were modest. Analysts noted that China appears likely to maintain most of its rare-earth export curbs, while businesses brace for continued volatility in bilateral trade.
In market performance:
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U.S. equities closed near session lows, with the S&P 500 down 1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 0.2%.
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Amazon shares surged 12% after hours on strong revenue growth driven by its cloud division, while Apple rose 2% after forecasting a strong December quarter.
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The combined market cap of the “Magnificent Seven” reached 38% of the S&P 500, the highest share since at least 2020.
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The yen weakened after the Bank of Japan held rates steady. Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit a record high and logged its biggest monthly gain in nearly five years.
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Stocks fell in China and across Europe, where the European Central Bank also kept interest rates unchanged.
