Source: Sharecast
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just 0.02% at 52,867.98, while the S&P 500 shed 1.21% to 7,663.43 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.60% weaker at 26,008.86.
The Dow closed 11.89 points higher on Thursday, barely extending gains recorded in the previous session, while the Nasdaq delivered its worst daily performance since June.
Thursday's moves followed comments from Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, who said demand for neocloud infrastructure was "off the charts" but warned that scarce capital was holding back growth. Huang's comments seemingly spooked markets, reigniting worries about tightening credit conditions, while Meta's own comments on the scale of funding needed for AI projects added further pressure to the sector.
Energy prices also weighed on sentiment after reports in The New York Times suggested the US and Israel were preparing renewed strikes against Iran following next month's mid-term elections. Donald Trump said late on Wednesday that Washington was not negotiating with Tehran and that something would happen "fairly soon". As a result, Brent crude futures were 3.83% higher at $112.99 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up 2.39% at $99.47 per barrel.
Safe‑haven flows lifted US Treasurys, with the benchmark 10‑year yield dropping more than 17 basis points to 4.97%, its lowest level in almost a month, while the two‑year yield also fell sharply, shedding over 16 basis points to 4.66%.
As far as Thursday's earnings were concerned, Lockheed Martin posted a solid set of third‑quarter numbers, with sales rising to $20.7bn from $18.6bn a year earlier and net earnings improving to $1.8bn, or $7.97 per share. The defence giant also reported a sharp 27% jump in backlog since Q2, setting a new record at $292bn.
Elsewhere, Spotify delivered strong third‑quarter growth, adding six million premium subscribers to reach 306m and boosting ad‑supported monthly active users by eleven million to 788m. Revenues climbed 16% to €4.97bn, driven by steady premium momentum and healthier ad‑supported performance, with the streaming giant saying it had met all key targets for the period.
Union Pacific posted a strong third quarter performance, with profits rising to $2.08bn from $1.79bn a year earlier and operating revenues climbing 15% to $7.2bn on continued volume growth, while Comcast also beat earnings expectations, delivering $1.07 per share versus the $0.98 consensus, although quarterly revenues slipped to $29.3bn from $31.2bn a year earlier.
On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 17 October, according to the Labor Department. Initial claims fell by 6,000 to 194,000, after the prior week was upwardly revised by 1,000, while the four‑week moving average decreased by 1,000 to 197,750 from the prior week's downward revision. Continuing claims increased by 25,000, with the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits rising to to 1.72m in the week ended 10 October, while the previous reading was down by 7,000 from 1.71m. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.1%, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $165.59 5.58%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $31.81 4.71%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $327.73 4.33%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $267.61 3.81%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $45.20 3.76%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $250.29 3.52%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $95.34 2.87%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $252.63 2.59%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $348.22 2.23%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $447.28 2.19%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $85.49 -6.45%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $704.05 -4.89%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $104.89 -2.51%
Boeing Co. (BA) $187.55 -2.46%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $521.08 -1.81%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $147.24 -1.76%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $891.30 -1.48%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $226.68 -0.04%
S&P 500 - Risers
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $24.78 11.82%
Allegion (ALLE) $176.52 11.02%
Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $128.70 9.03%
Robert Half Inc. (RHI) $37.68 8.78%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $84.45 8.69%
Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $103.30 8.58%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $28.80 8.56%
General Mills Inc. (GIS) $35.18 8.01%
HP Inc (HPQ) $33.76 7.79%
Accenture Plc (ACN) $258.74 7.69%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $230.15 -13.45%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $147.83 -9.88%
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) $311.52 -8.74%
Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $375.58 -8.42%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $552.44 -8.10%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $123.99 -8.10%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $422.48 -7.91%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $648.85 -7.84%
Amphenol Corp. (APH) $73.07 -7.74%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $151.98 10.73%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $51.67 7.46%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $73.72 7.09%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $203.33 6.43%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $9.50 6.38%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $118.81 5.89%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $354.90 5.83%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $270.55 5.47%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $635.01 5.39%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $307.94 5.15%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $230.15 -13.45%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $147.83 -9.88%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $375.58 -8.42%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $422.48 -7.91%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $648.85 -7.84%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $642.14 -6.78%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,560.54 -6.51%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $85.49 -6.45%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $309.65 -5.73%