Nasdaq futures drop as stocks try to top off strong July

Futures linked to major U.S. stock indexes traded mixed at the start of the overnight session on Thursday evening, as a report on weak Amazon earnings threatened to dampen Wall’s otherwise strong July. Street on the last trading day of the month.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, while those linked to the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%. Dow futures added 20 points.

The deluge of earnings reports for the week continued after the closing bell on Thursday, with e-commerce giant Amazon and social media platform Pinterest providing earnings updates to investors.

Amazon shares fell 7.1% in extended trading after reporting its first quarterly shortfall in three years and giving weaker forecasts. Pinterest fell another 19%, after saying it lost monthly users in the three months ended June 30.

Shares of online brokerage Robinhood began trading on the Nasdaq at $ 38 per share on Thursday, but the stock finally closed its first session over 8% down from $ 34.82 per share.

Stocks rallied in Thursday’s regular session, even after the Commerce Department said economic growth in the United States slowed somewhat in the second quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained around 150 points on Thursday after hitting a new intraday high. The S&P 500, which also briefly touched an all-time high, ended the day 0.4% higher at 4,419.15.

The Nasdaq Composite underperformed with a gain of 0.1%, subdued by a 4% drop in Facebook shares after the social media company’s earnings report.

These gains added to an otherwise healthy month for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The Composite and the Dow Jones added 1.89% and 1.69% in July, while the broad S&P 500 is up 2.83% over the same period. Utilities, healthcare, real estate and tech stocks led the S&P 500 higher for the month, while energy and financials lagged.

Thursday’s positive session came despite a government report that showed U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter accelerated 6.5% on an annualized basis, considerably less than the Dow’s estimate of 8.4%. Jones.

The GDP update wasn’t the only economic news Wall Street looked at this week. Many investors were relieved that the Federal Reserve did not signal any impending plans to reduce asset purchases.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted on Wednesday that while the economy has come a long way since the Covid-19 recession, it still has some way to go before the central bank considers adjusting its policies. easy money.

“While he is shy of expectations specifically for second-quarter GDP, in general, as President Powell noted yesterday, the recovery has in many ways exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts,” he said. wrote Stifel chief economist Lindsey Piegza on Thursday afternoon. “With the reopening of US businesses to US businesses and consumers eager to rush to market and spend, growth in the first half of the year has been solid.”

The Fed will receive the latest iteration of its favorite inflation gauge, the Personal Consumer Expenditure Price Index, Friday morning at 8:30 a.m.ET.