Data on the US economy poured cold water on Wall Street investors

Business

#Data #economy #poured #cold #water #Wall #Street #investors

Meta Platforms shares fell nearly 11% after the company provided weak guidance on its second-quarter financial performance

Major U.S. stock indexes ended the session lower after the latest data on the U.S. economy showed that it slowed significantly in the first quarter, CNBC reports.

The blue-chip benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.97% to 38,086.25.

IBM and Caterpillar shares fell 8.25 percent and 7.02 percent, respectively.

The broad gauge S&P 500 erased 0.46% of its value, falling to a level of 5,048.42 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 100.99 points, or 0.64%, at 15,611.76.

Markets responded to new data on the US economy, whose growth slowed significantly in the first quarter. According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced in the January-March period, rose 1.6 percent year over year, adjusted for seasonality and inflation.

Dow Jones economists had expected growth of 2.4%, following a 3.4% increase in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Hours before the end of the session, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the US economy remains strong and inflation may turn out to be cooler than expected.

The main US stock indexes at the end of the session on April 25.

“The U.S. economy continues to perform very, very well,” Yellen said in response to the Commerce Department’s much weaker-than-expected initial estimate for U.S. gross domestic product from January to March. The report showed the economy grew 1.6% year-on-year – below the 2.4% expected by economists and less than half the pace in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Also Read: The leaders in sales of tablets in the world in 2023

Shares of Meta Platforms fell nearly 11% after the company provided weak guidance on its second-quarter financial performance.

Microsoft and Alphabet are expected to report after the close of regular trading.

Tesla shares rose 4.9 percent after the electric car maker signaled it remains committed to developing affordable models.

In bond markets, yields on the 10-year and 30-year US Treasuries rose to 4.702 percent and 4.812 percent, respectively.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the US dollar against a basket of six rival currencies, fell 0.27 percent to 105.58.

In oil markets, the price of Brent rose by 1.4 percent to $89.25 a barrel. That of the American light oil WTI reported an increase of 1.21 percent to 83.81 dollars per barrel.