Techs led a retreat in US stocks on Thursday as Meta’s (META) revenue forecast rattled investors eyeing the next high-stakes megacap earnings, while a GDP update ahead is set to revive the rate-cut debate.
Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) futures fell 1% on the heels of a go-nowhere day for the major Wall Street gauges. Futures on the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.7%, while those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped 0.6%.
Meta shares sank more than 12% as the market balked at rising costs at the Facebook and Instagram owner, which plans to spend up to $10 billion on AI infrastructure investments. Concerns grew about how long it will take for that spending to feed into revenue, pulling down tech stocks more broadly.
That miss put a dent in hopes that results from the “Magnificent Seven” might juice a comeback in stocks, whose rally has lost momentum recently. It’s also a reality check for Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), also burdened with high earnings growth and AI expectations, when they report after the bell Thursday.
Investors are also waiting for an update on GDP after an increasingly positive US economy has led some to take the repricing of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in its stride. Economic growth is expected to have eased to 2.5% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.
Any signs of price pressures will intensify the spotlight on the March reading of the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge, set for release on Friday.
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