Stan Choe
A sharp drop for Google’s parent company is yanking the US stock market lower on Thursday, while prices for bitcoin, silver and gold weaken. Yields are also sinking in the bond market following discouraging news on the US job market.
The S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent and is heading toward its sixth loss in the seven days since it set an all-time high. The Dow Jones was down 486 points, or 1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9 per cent lower.
The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures at 4.56am AEDT pointing to a fall of 64 points, or 0.7 per cent, at the open. The ASX lost 0.4 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar was fetching US69.72¢ at 5.11am AEDT.
Alphabet was the heaviest weight on the market and dropped 3.2 per cent, even though the parent company of Google, YouTube and other businesses reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on how much Alphabet is spending on artificial-intelligence technology and questioned whether it will all prove worth it.
Alphabet said its spending on equipment and other investments could double this year to roughly $US180 billion ($258 billion). That blew past analysts’ expectations of less than $US119 billion, according to FactSet.
In the bond market, Treasury yields sank after a report said the number of US workers applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week by more than economists expected. That could be a signal that the pace of layoffs is accelerating.
Some economists suggested last week’s rise could be statistical noise, and the total number remains relatively low compared with history. But a separate report said that layoffs announced by US-based employers surged last month. The 108,435 was the highest number for a month since October, according to global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
For a January, it’s the worst since 2009.
A third report from the US government said that employers were advertising the lowest number of job openings in December in more than five years.
Weakness in the job market could push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to support the economy, even if it also risks worsening inflation. Treasury yields fell across the board in response.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.21 per cent from 4.29 per cent late Wednesday. That’s a notable move for the bond market.
The moves were even sharper in commodities markets.
Silver’s price dropped 10.4 per cent in its latest wild swing since its record-breaking momentum suddenly halted last week.
Gold’s price fell 1.6 per cent to $US4872.80 per ounce. It’s been careening back and forth since it roughly doubled in price over 12 months. It neared $US5600 last week and then fell below $US4,500 on Monday.
Both gold and silver had been screaming higher as investors piled into places they thought would be safer amid worries about political turmoil, a US stock market that critics called expensive and huge debt loads for governments worldwide. But nothing can keep rising at such extreme rates forever, and critics had been calling for a pullback.
Bitcoin, which is pitched as “digital gold,” also sank. It dropped below $US68,000, down from its record above $US124,000 set in October.
The tumbling prices dragged down stocks of companies enmeshed in the crypto industry. Coinbase Global, the crypto trading platform, dropped 9.3 per cent. Strategy, which has made a business of buying and holding bitcoin, tumbled 13.5 per cent.
Outside of crypto, Qualcomm fell 7.7 per cent even though the chip company topped analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Its forecast for profit in the current quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations as an industrywide shortage of memory pushes some handset makers to cut back on orders.
Estee Lauder also topped Wall Street targets, and it raised its financial forecasts for the full fiscal year. But it also said it expects tariff-related headwinds to wipe out about $US100 million worth of profits. The New York cosmetic company’s shares sank 22.5 per cent.
On the winning side of Wall Street were some companies that stand to benefit from big spending by Alphabet and other companies continuing the AI frenzy. Chip company Broadcom rose 3.3 per cent and was the strongest force limiting the S&P 500’s losses.
McKesson jumped 14.8 per cent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The health care company also raised its forecasted range for profit this fiscal year.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.
London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent after the Bank of England held interest rates there steady. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.4 per cent, and Germany’s DAX lost 0.6 per cent after the European Central Bank likewise stood pat on interest rates.
South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.9 per cent for one of the world’s biggest moves and dropped from its all-time high. Samsung Electronics dropped 5.8 per cent, just two days after it had surged 11.4 per cent.
AP
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