Zoom benefits from increased full-year revenue forecast
Indices in the red: Dow 0.59%, S&P 500 0.90%, Nasdaq 1.52%
NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks lost ground on Thursday, dragged down by technology stocks as leaders of central banks from around the world met for the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
All three major U.S. indices extended their losses in afternoon trading, moving against rising U.S. Treasury yields after economic data eased recession fears.
The weakness of the so-called “Magnificent Seven”, the megacap growth stocks, weighed most heavily on the technology-heavy Nasdaq.
“There’s really not a lot of news on either the macro or corporate side,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta. “Unemployment numbers were in line, existing home sales were in line. It could just be a little bit of trading, people doing what they do to make the market go up or down.”
Central bank officials from around the world have gathered in Jackson Hole for the annual economic symposium. Investors will be looking closely at Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday for clues about the timing and extent of the Fed’s easing cycle.
“How can (Powell) set the stage for September without sounding definitive? He’s not going to say anything different or try to give us anything new,” Martin added.
Rising US unemployment figures, which followed Wednesday’s sharply lower payroll revision, appear to confirm that the labour market is less robust than expected and is gradually softening, easing recession fears and strengthening the case for a 25 basis point rate cut at the upcoming Fed meeting in September.
Continuing unemployment claims and JOLTS settings
That assessment was echoed on Thursday in comments by Kansas City Fed President Frank Schmid, Boston Fed President Susan Collins and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who all suggested that a period of rate cuts was imminent.
“Fed officials say a rate cut is definitely on the table, but there is still time until September and the data can change things,” Martin said.
At 2:10 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI)opens new tab The S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 241.19 points or 0.59% to 40,649.3opens new tab lost 50.48 points or 0.90% to 5,570.37 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC)opens new tab fell by 272.14 points or 1.52% to 17,646.84.
Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, Technology (.SPLRCT)opens new tab The largest percentage loss was recorded by shares, with a loss of 2.0%. Energy stocks (.SPNY)opens new tab led the winners.
Among the individual stocks, Snowflake (SNOW.N)opens new tab raised its full-year product revenue forecast. Still, shares of the data cloud analytics company fell 13.6% as its margin forecast remained unchanged.
Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O)opens new tab rose 11.8% after raising its annual sales forecast.
Advanced Auto Parts (AAP.N)opens new tab fell 15.7% after cutting its annual profit forecast.
On the NYSE, declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks by a ratio of 2.12:1; on the Nasdaq, the ratio was 2.22:1 in favor of declining stocks.
The S&P 500 recorded 53 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 54 new lows.
Sign up Here.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Shinjini Ganguli; Editing by Richard Chang
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.opens new tab
