The DOW JONES fell 0.9% to 47,026 points, while the S&P 500 fell more than 1%, at 6,665.98 points. The NASDAQ 100 fell 1.62% to 22,500.15 points.
Wall Street has just suffered a strong correction yesterday, Thursday, on a day in which technology stocks were severely punished and only the energy sector managed to end the day positively. The DOW JONES fell 1.65%, the S&P 500 lost 1.66% and the technology Nasdaq fell 2.29%.
Despite yesterday’s punishment, the S&P 500 is up about 0.1% in the week through Thursday’s close, while he DOW JONES has risen 1%. The index managed to close on Wednesday at a new all-time high of 48,254.82 points.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq has fallen almost 0.6% this week, as fears have grown about the high valuations of technology stocks linked to artificial intelligence, such as NVIDIA or Broadcom. In that sense, the markets are crossing their fingers waiting for NVIDIA to present its quarterly results on November 19. Analysts such as UBS and Citi anticipate revenues of between $56 billion and $57 billion, figures that reinforce the idea that the chip giant could once again beat forecasts in sales and earnings per share.
The growing concern over upcoming Federal Reserve decision regarding interest rates also adds pressure to the stock market, after a series of Fed officials have made more ‘hawkish’ comments in recent days. For example, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari has said recent data shows “more of the same” in terms of the economy’s resilience, suggesting he may consider holding rates the best option. However, he stated that “I can argue in favor” of either option.
Traders now estimate a nearly 52% chance that the central bank will cut rates by 25 points during its December meeting, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch tool. Just a month ago the market took this cut for granted, with a probability of 95.5%.
On the other hand, the US government shutdown, the longest in history, ended Wednesday night after lasting more than six weeks. It was expected to end a period in which investors traded without important economic data. Instead, it has raised new doubts after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that some economic data that were supposed to be published during the stagnation may not be known. Now, some investors believe this could make the Federal Reserve less likely to lower interest rates.
Regarding the names of the day, Applied Materials falls 6% in the New York morning despite presenting better-than-expected fourth quarter results. Applied Materials earned adjusted earnings of $2.17 per share on revenue of $6.8 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $2.09 per share on revenue of $6.67 billion. Applied Materials also forecast higher demand in the second half of 2026, but warned that spending in China could be lower.
StubHub plummets 29.3% at the opening of Wall Street. The ticketing platform posted a net loss of $1.33 billion, reflecting a one-time charge for stock-based compensation. Still, StubHub beat analysts’ second-quarter revenue expectations in its first financial report since going public in September. But what seems to affect the stock market the most today is the CEO’s announcement that StubHub would not offer forecasts for the current quarter.
Whirlpool shares rise 1.6% this Friday following the news that Appaloosa Management, the firm of investor David Tepper, has bought 5.2 million shares of the appliance manufacturer.
Corporate rumors also spice up the market due to information about The Wall Street Journal according to which Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are preparing offers for Warner Bros. Discovery, with a deadline of November 20 for the submission of initial non-binding offers.
Warner Bros. Discovery is conducting an auction process with the goal of having it closed by the end of 2025. Paramount plans to participate in the formal auction and remains committed to acquiring the company in its entirety, according to this medium, while Comcast and Netflix have different acquisition objectives. Both companies are primarily interested in Warner Bros.’ film and television studios and the HBO Max streaming service, but not in Warner’s cable networks, which include CNN, TNT and Discovery Channel.
Walmart falls more than 2.4% after CEO Doug McMillon said he would resign, effective February 1, to be succeeded by John Furner.
Robinhood sheds more than 5% as investors continue to move away from the technology sector amid concerns about high valuations. Robinhood late Thursday reported a 34% increase in total stock trading volume and a nearly 22% increase in options contract trading volume on its platform from September to October. And indeed, Big Tech continues to weaken amid investor concerns about the sustainability of AI spending. Alphabet lost more than 2%, NVIDIA, Intel and Palantir lost more than 3% while Tesla fell more than 4%.
Other markets
In raw materials markets, oil prices rise this Friday amid fears about supply, after An attack with Ukrainian drones will hit an oil depot in the Russian port of Novorossiyskon the Black Sea, an important export center. In this way, US West Texas futures advance 2.61% to $60.22, while intentional benchmark Brent oil rises 2.27% to $64.47.
The price of gold fell 0.43% to $4,153.54 per ounce in its spot variety, once again moving away from the all-time high of $4,381.21 on October 20.
The euro fell 0.20% against the dollar until the exchange rate stood at 1.1614 dollars for each single currency.