US stocks fall as several large tech names retreat
Wall Street stocks fell for a second straight session on Thursday following a downgrade in a US growth report as several large tech shares tumbled. The world's biggest economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the January to March period, the Commerce Department said, below the 1.6 percent figure published last month. Meanwhile, Dow member Salesforce plunged nearly 20 percent as the technology company published mixed results and lowered some of its full-year projections. Several other large tech companies followed Salesforce lower. Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and Amazon all fell 1.5 percent or more. The Dow Jones finished down 0.9 percent at 38,111. The S&P 500 dropped 0.6 percent to 5,235, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.1 percent to 16,737. The losses came on the heels of Wednesday's session in which major indices retreated amid worries that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high due to persistent inflation. "It's all about interest rates. We don't see any relief in sight from the Fed," said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital. "There is a growing view that they won't cut at all this year." Among individual companies, Best Buy soared 13.4 percent despite reporting a 6.1 percent drop in comparable sales as investors were encouraged by commentary suggesting an improvement in the second half of 2024. But Kohl's plunged 22.9 percent after results missed expectations. The retailer reported a loss of US$27 million. (AFP)