4.02pm: US markets decline at closing
US indices ended in losses as the downbeat tech earnings weakened Wall Street on Thursday.
The Nasdaq Composite shed the most of all indices, closing with a loss of 3.7% at 13,879, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 1.5% at 35,110 and S&P 500 dropped by 2.4% at 4,477.
Analysts are claiming Meta Platforms Inc's one-day crash as the worst in US stock history, positioning the tech giant for the erasure of over $200 billion. The company plunged more than 25% after its disappointing fourth-quarter earnings.
12.05pm: US equities firmly in the red
US stocks continued to trend downwards around midday as investors mulled over disappointing fourth-quarter earnings from Facebook owner Meta.
The Nasdaq Composite was the hardest hit of all the indexes, losing more than 2.5% at noon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.8%, or 286 points, at 35,335, while the broader S&P 500 index dropped by 1.5%.
“The growing optimism of the past few days has been rudely shattered by Meta’s terrible earnings,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG. “Investors thought that they could breathe more easily as earnings remained solid, but the sight of one of the market’s darlings suffering a brutal fall from grace has diminished the appetite of many to buy the dip.”
The January US jobs report, due on Friday, is likely to add to the volatility of equities amid inflation worries and an anticipated hike in interest rates.
11.00am: Proactive North America headlines:
Cloud DX (TSX-V:CDX, OTCQB:CDXFF) launches its Cloud XR division to support the emerging medical metaverse
Lumina Gold announces drill results from first two holes on Cangrejos cold-copper deposit in Ecuador
ACME Lithium strikes US$3M funding agreement with Lithium Royalty Corporation
Logiq appoints 'GoLogiq' dedicated executive team
Sonoro Gold has a storied management and great asset in Mexico, says Equity Research
Falcon Gold says results from the 2022 field program on the Gaspard Gold Claims shows heavy mineral concentrates from three creek drainages
GoviEx Uranium set to kick off drilling at its Falea project in Mali
SPYR (OTCQB:SPYR) Technologies subsidiary Applied Magix announces MagixStatus line of USB Type-C charging cables
Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) says its joint venture CoSara receives clearance from Indian regulators from Hepatitis B viral load test
Boosh Plant-Based Brands says Save On Foods confirms its first order will be for all its 170 stores throughout Canada
Nextleaf Solutions set to sell its Glacial Gold products in Ontario; provides update on BC and Nova Scotia distribution
Healixa (OTC:EMOR) begins accepting 'indications of interest' to order its Global Aquaduct units
Looking Glass Labs CEO says company positioned as a 'leader in dynamic spaces' of Web3 platform
MySize launches FirstLook Smart Mirror, its ultimate omnichannel solution for retailers
Vejii's business-to-business platform VEDGEco.com sees 25% uptake in automatic reorders in January
Playgon celebrates Chinese New Year and Year of the Tiger with its proprietary table game Tiger Bonus Baccarat
Fobi AI (TSX-V:FOBI, OTCQB:FOBIF) strikes strategic partnership with Canadian software development company Barnet Technologies
DRDGOLD says increased operating costs and Rand gold price fall have hit earnings in first half
Psyched Wellness (CSE:PSYC, OTCQB:PSYCF) reports additional positive results from preclinical oral toxicity study of Amanita Muscaria (AME-1)
Harvest One says launch of another LivRelief Infused product 'milestone' as it continues to expand portfolio of infused licensed products
Victory Resources gears up for drilling its Smokey lithium property in Nevada
Mindset Pharma identifies additional drug candidates from 'Family 3' psilocybin compounds, shows potential as substitute for microdosing
Mydecine Innovations announces appointment of Dr Victoria Hale to the company’s board of directors
Nextech AR announces multi-year expansion of its 3D/AR e-commerce contract with Kmart Australia
Kodiak Copper identifies 'compelling' targets at MPD project from last year's surveys
AMPD Ventures announces expansion of Learning Factory Digital Twin Project in partnership with Digital Technology Supercluster
ESE Entertainment inks partnership with BallStreet Trading in connection with its $50,000 free-to-play live Super Bowl event, 'The Market'
Lion Copper and Gold acquires 'exceptional' Blue Copper prospect in Montana, USA
Faron Pharmaceuticals says Traumakine study shows induction of CD73 molecule prevents death after emergency open aortic surgery
Royal Wins says Kash Karnival platform has seen an over 200% increase in installs and 120% increase in active player base since its launch in the US
9.45am: US stocks firmly in red at open
US stocks started in the red on Thursday, as expected, as traders fretted over Bit Tech earnings, mulled over coming rate hikes and digested economic data.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged around 167 points at 35,461. The S&P 500 dropped 66 points at 4,522.
The tech-laden Nasdaq tanked 327 points (2.2%) to stand at 14,090.
Meta Platforms, or what was Facebook, saw shares tank 26% in early New York deals, putting it potentially on track for the biggest one day crash in stock market history for a US firm.
The social media behemoth revealed that daily active users on its the main app fell to 1.929 billion in the three months to December, compared to 1.93 billion in the previous quarter. It was the first fall in 18 years. It also missed sales and growth estimates in its quarterly earnings.
On the data front, official figures showed that US productivity rose at a 6.6% annual rate in the fourth quarter, after economists had forecast a 4.4% rise. Over 2021 as a whole, US productivity rose 1.9%, but that was down from a 2.4% pace in 2020.
6.40am: Rally to reverse
US stocks are expected to reverse some of the early February rally at open on Thursday as shares of Facebook owner Meta Platforms get hammered after releasing earnings after-hours and investors awaited reports from tech peers Amazon.com and Snap.
Futures for the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 dropped 2.1% on Thursday as investors wiped 20% pre-market off Meta stock, which painted a gloomy outlook in its earnings report.
Elsewhere, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.3%, and contracts for the broader S&P 500 index fell 1%. Over the four sessions to Wednesday, the S&P 500 notched up its biggest four-day percentage gain since November 2020.
Facebook tumbled after posting its first earnings report since chief executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined a pivot to the metaverse. The company said it expected revenue growth to slow because users were spending less time on its more lucrative services. Meta cited inflation as a weight on advertiser spending.
After markets close on Thursday, investors will assess earnings from internet shopping giant Amazon.com. The company is expected to post record quarterly revenue of $137.73 billion, but profits are expected to fall from a year earlier, due in part to higher costs.
Aside from tech earnings, investors are also concerned that the US economic recovery has slowed after growing rapidly at the end of 2021 as spiraling inflation takes a toll. With the Federal Reserve poised to resume interest rates hikes as early as next month, investors will look cautiously at tomorrow's key monthly US non-farm payrolls data.
Ahead of that, at 8.30am today, the latest US weekly jobless claims data are expected to show filings for unemployment benefits fell after ticking higher in mid-January.
Then, at 9.45am, IHS Markit’s composite purchasing managers index for January is forecast to show a tepid rate of growth. and an Institute for Supply Management survey, due at 10.00am, is expected to show activity outside of manufacturing has slowed slightly.