Wall Street took a pause on Thursday as U.S. stocks and even the price of gold pulled back from record highs following torrid runs.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent from its latest all-time high for just its second loss in the last 10 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 243 points, or 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1 per cent.
Gold also fell following its stellar rally this year, losing 2.4 per cent to drop back below US$4,000 per ounce, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. They’re taking a moment following big runs driven in large part by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to support the economy.
Financial markets have been climbing so relentlessly, including a 35 per cent leap for the S&P 500 from a low in April, that worries are rising that prices may have shot too high and become too expensive. Concerns are particularly strong about the frenzy lifting stocks related to artificial-intelligence technology.
Dell Technologies sank 5.2 per cent for the biggest loss in the S&P 500, but that only trimmed its surge since talking up its AI growth opportunities at an investment conference earlier in the week. The stock is still up nearly 11 per cent for the week so far.
Tesla also weighed on the market after falling 0.7 per cent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation of its “Full Self-Driving” system due to safety concerns.
Those losses helped offset a 4.3 per cent ascent for Delta Air Lines, which reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected.
Delta also gave a forecasted range for profit during the year’s final three months whose midpoint topped analysts’ estimates. Its president, Glen Hauenstein, highlighted a broad-based acceleration in sales trends over the last six weeks, including for business travel domestically.
Such reports from companies are taking on more significance, offering windows into the strength of the economy. That’s because the U.S. government’s shutdown is delaying reports that would clearly show how the overall economy is doing. This is the second week where the U.S. government has not published its update on unemployment claims, for example, a report that usually helps guide Wall Street’s trading each Thursday.
PepsiCo rose 4.2 per cent after delivering a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, saying momentum improved for its drinks business in North America.
Delivering bigger profits is one of two ways that companies can make their stock prices look less expensive following their big rallies. The other is if their stock prices fall.
Akero Therapeutics leaped 16.3 per cent after Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind the Wegovy weight-loss drug, said it would buy the drug developer based in South San Francisco, California. The price tag could reach US$5.2 billion if Akero’s lead product candidate wins federal regulatory approval.
MP Materials, a company that mines and processes rare earths in California, rose 2.4 per cent after China announced curbs on its exports of the materials, which are critical for the making of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.
Costco Wholesale climbed 3.1 per cent after the retailer said its revenue rose 8 per cent in September from a year earlier.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 18.61 points to 6,735.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 243.36 to 46,358.42, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 18.75 to 23,024.63.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after Italy’s Ferrari tumbled 15.4 per cent following the release of financial forecasts that some analysts said were below their expectations.
Stocks in Shanghai leaped 1.3 per cent after trading resumed there following a holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8 per cent for another one of the world’s bigger moves. Technology giant SoftBank Group surged 11.4 per cent after announcing a US$5.4 billion deal for the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.14 per cent from 4.13 per cent late Wednesday.
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Stan Choe, The Associated Press. AP writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.