Nasdaq sharply lower, oil spikes ahead of NFP

US stocks ended lower on Thursday as tech issues took a hammering following warnings from Meta Platforms and Microsoft about rising AI costs with their earnings which were released after-hours on Wednesday.

The mood was also cautious ahead of more mega-cap tech earnings from Apple, down 1.8%, and Amazon, off 3.4%, posted after the Thursday close.

In the event, Apple reported record third quarter revenue but saw a decline in net income, with its shares falling 1.9% in after-hours trade. But Amazon jumped 5.6% after-hours as its numbers beat market expectations.

And chipmaker Intel, having fallen 3.5% during the session, leapt 15% higher in after-hours trading following its results, with investors excited by an improved outlook.

At the closing bell in New York, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.9% lower at 41,763, while the broader S&P 500 shed 1.9% to 5,705, losing all its monthly gains, and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite?dropped 2.8% to 18,295

Putting on the pressure, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta fell 4.1% and software giant Microsoft dropped 6.5% on the AI concerns, even as both saw their earnings for the third quarter beat expectations.

Among other results on Thursday, eBay fell 8.1% after the eCommerce firm reported disappointing guidance for the crucial holiday shopping season.

Robinhood slumped 16.7% after the trading platform reported that its third-quarter earnings missed expectations, although crypto trading volume and revenue doubled year-on-year.

Uber Technologies fell 9.3% after the ride-hailing firm’s gross bookings grew at its slowest pace in over a year, even as it edged past quarterly profit estimates.

And Estee Lauder slumped 20.9% after the cosmetics giant reported a revenue miss and withdrew its fiscal 2025 outlook amid ongoing challenges in China and travel retail.

But Comcast rose 3.4% after the NBC owner reported higher quarterly sales and said it may spin off its cable networks.

US economic data released on Thursday showed that the personal consumer expenditures (PCE) index - a key inflation metric closely monitored by the Federal Reserve - slowed to an annualised growth rate of 2.1% in September, in-line with economists’ expectations, down from an upwardly revised reading of 2.3% in August. Meanwhile, the core PCE metric came in at 2.7% annually, above expectations of 2.6% but equaling August's growth.

Elsewhere, as traders await Friday’s September non-farm payrolls report, the latest weekly jobless claims?dipped to 216,000, down from 228,000 in the prior week.

Meanwhile, US employers announced 55,597 job cuts in October, according to?the latest Challenger survey, down from September's reading of 72,821 but markedly higher than 36,836 at the same time a year earlier.

Finally, the Chicago Fed's purchasing managers index sank to 41.6 in October, according to?the Institute of Supply Management, down from 46.6 in September and well short of expectations for a reading of 47.0.

The key figures all come with Federal Reserve officials set to meet next week to contemplate their next policy decision having moved to cut borrowing costs by a bigger than expected 50 basis points in September. The latest interest rate decision comes on Wednesday, November 7, just two days after the too-close-to-call US Presidential election.

On the commodities front, oil prices rose on Thursday, extending a rally made in the previous session due to stronger than expected US fuel demand and reports that OPEC+ could delay a planned output increase.

US gasoline stockpiles fell by more than expected to a two-year low in the week ending October 25, according to the Energy Information Administration, while crude inventories registered a surprise drawdown as imports slipped.

US WTI crude?rose 2.8% to $70.53 a barrel, while UK Brent?crude gained 2.5% to $74.02 a barrel.

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