The stock markets in New York closed considerably lower on Friday, completely erasing gains made a day earlier. Especially tech stocks had a hard time. Disappointing quarterly reports from heavyweights Amazon and Google fueled the fear that companies are over their peak. The latest figures on economic growth in the United States, however, gave some counterweight.
The Dow-Jones index ended 1.2 percent lower at 24,688.31 points. The broad S & P 500 dropped 1.7 percent to 2658.69 points. Nasdaq went down 2.1 percent to 7167.21 points.
US economic growth turned out to be weakened in the third quarter, albeit less hard than economists had expected in the midst of all trade strains. The strongest growth since 2014 was still the strongest in the second quarter. The growth figures generally play a major role in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.
The parent company of Google, Alphabet, achieved a profit that was lower than experts expected. The share fell 1.8 percent. At the other companies, Tesla rose 5.1 percent. The FBI’s investigation into the deception of investors by the maker of electric cars is, according to The Wall Street Journal, the next phase. Tesla said it had not heard anything from them for months.
Chip giant Intel rose 4.2 percent after better than expected figures. The profit and sales were higher than market researchers had expected on the average. Moreover, the group was more positive about the results for the entire financial year.
Colgate-Palmolive saw its revenue and profit fall and lost 6.6 percent. Toy manufacturer Mattel (minus 2.8 percent) and Snapchat parent company Snap (minus 10.2 percent) also opened the books.
The euro registered $1.1408, against $1.1393 earlier in the day at the close of the European stock exchanges. A barrel of American oil cost 0.6 percent more at $67.71. The price of Brent oil rose 1.2 percent to $77.80 per barrel.
