WASHINGTON: Wall Street stocks dipped early Thursday following diverging reactions to earnings from tech giants Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
Shares of Meta jumped about eight percent after strong results boosted confidence in the company’s aggressive artificial intelligence push, while Microsoft tumbled about 10 percent as surging AI spending rattled investors.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than 0.1 percent at 49,004.48.
READ MORE; US stocks mixed amid earnings deluge
The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.4 percent to 6,951.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.0 to 23,625.19.
With AI, “initially, a rising tide lifted all boats,” said CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall. “But this time around, investors will look at stocks on a company-by-company basis because not all are benefiting now at the same rate of pace.”
US government data showed lower jobless claims, reinforcing confidence in the employment market a day after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.
American Dollar Exchange Rate