Wall Street’s Day saw choppy trading as hopes faded for a quick end to the Iran war, while investors grappled with a mixed set of earnings reports and renewed concerns about AI-driven disruption in the software sector.
Major indices close lower
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.71 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 49,310.32. The S&P 500 lost 29.50 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 7,108.40. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 219.06 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 24,438.50.
Markets had rallied in recent weeks on hopes a resolution to the Iran war was nearing, along with expectations of solid corporate earnings.
But gains have been harder to sustain this week.
On Monday, the Nasdaq snapped a 13-session streak of gains as optimism over a resolution faded.
The three major indices are slightly lower for the week.
Oil prices holding near US$100 a barrel kept concerns about rising inflation in focus.
Tech stocks lead declines
Earnings season has been largely strong so far, with 82.1 per cent of the 123 companies that reported through Thursday morning beating analyst expectations, according to Tajinder Dhillon, head of earnings research at LSEG.
The earnings growth rate of 15.6 per cent is up from 14.4 per cent at the start of the month.
The S&P 500 tech index, down 1.47 per cent, was the worst-performing of the 11 major sectors. It was weighed down in part by an 8.25 per cent drop in IBM after revenue growth slowed in the first quarter due to weakness in its software business.
The results renewed concerns that traditional software business models could be disrupted by new AI tools. The S&P 500 software and services index dropped 5.09 per cent, its biggest daily percentage fall since 29 January.
