(MENAFN) The trading session on Friday saw the Nasdaq Composite and Standard & Poor's 500 indexes closing lower, driven by a decline in technology stocks, particularly Netflix, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to remain higher, buoyed by gains in American Express shares. Netflix's shares suffered a setback after the company's revenue forecast for the second quarter fell short of analysts' expectations, dampening investor sentiment.
Conversely, American Express reported first-quarter profits that surpassed expectations, leading to a surge in its stock price and providing a boost to the Dow Jones Index. However, selling pressure intensified on major technology companies, impacting overall market performance as traders braced for a wave of corporate earnings reports from the tech sector, which had been a key driver of the market's previous ascent.
One notable casualty of the session was Nvidia, a prominent player in the electronic chip industry, whose shares experienced a significant decline, resulting in a staggering loss of over USD200 billion in market value. This development underscored the vulnerability of tech stocks to market fluctuations and investor sentiment.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down by 0.88 percent, ending below the 5,000-point mark at 4,967.20 points. This marked the index's sixth consecutive session of decline, representing its longest losing streak since October 2022. On a weekly basis, the index recorded a decline of approximately 3.05 percent.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index experienced a sharper decline, plummeting by 2.05 percent to reach 15,282.01 points. This represented its worst performance of the year thus far. For the week, the index recorded a significant decline of about 5.52 percent, reflecting the heightened volatility and downward pressure observed in the technology sector.
Overall, the day's trading session highlighted the divergence in performance among major US stock indexes, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq and broader S&P 500 facing downward pressure, while the Dow Jones Index managed to maintain its upward trajectory thanks to the positive performance of specific constituent stocks such as American Express.
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