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After riding a rollercoaster this week, stocks declined sharply on Friday amid weak job reports. As the day ended, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 611 points, or 1.5%, to 39,736. The Nasdaq dropped 2.4%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.8%. Meanwhile, the European stocks on the Stoxx 600 index also dropped nearly 2%.
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The recent data released by the Labor Department says that initial jobless claims increased by 14,000 to 249,000 in the week ended July 27. Moreover, the initial applications for U.S. unemployment benefits surged to the highest level in almost a year, providing further evidence that the labor market is slowing down.
The data has discouraged investors who were initially excited after seeing that inflation is cooling off. However, the weaker-than-expected job reports indicate an economic slowdown, making investors wonder how the Fed will make its decision on interest rate cuts — and spurring recession fears.
Apple sales beat Wall Street’s expectations
Apple reported sales of nearly $86 billion for the quarter that ended on June 29, higher than the $84.4 billion forecast by analysts polled by FactSet. The win for Apple came despite missing expectations for its sales in China, where the company reported revenue of $14.7 billion, nearly $1 billion lower than anticipated. Apple shares were up 0.6% by the end of the day.
Amazon misses revenue expectations
Amazon’s shares were 8% down by the closing time. The retail and cloud giant reported revenue of $148 billion for the second quarter of 2024, a 10% increase from the previous year. The company was expected to report revenue of $148.7 billion, according to FactSet analysts. Meanwhile, Amazon reported net income of $13.5 billion in the second quarter, while it was expected to report $11 billion.
The company’s cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services, reported $26.3 billion in revenue for the second quarter, up 19% year-over-year and beating analyst estimates. Meanwhile, its advertising sector reported $12.8 billion in revenue.
Intel stock drops over 26%
Intel’s stock plummeted over 26% by the end of the day following a significant earnings miss in the quarter ending in June. The company also announced it would be laying off more than 15% of its employees. The company’s cost-reduction plan is part of moving “toward a sustainable business model” to support its long-term strategy, Intel said.
—Laura Bratton and Britney Nguyen contributed to this article.
