In US pre-market trading, Meta Inc. fell 4% after declaring that the economy is unpredictable. Due to weak cloud data, Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, saw a 2.3% decline on Wednesday. After the bell, Amazon.com Inc. releases its earnings, and it fell 1.5%.
Other markets were also affected by the pessimistic sentiment, with European and Asian shares suffering sharp losses. Gold gained 0.5 percent as the US dollar climbed. As the yen fell below 150 per dollar once more, rumours of government meddling in the currency market intensified.
“Traders are choosing to sell first because they think the sentiment will worsen before it gets better,” BNP Paribas Suisse SA investment advisor Paul de La Baume said.
Amidst increasing Treasury rates, investors are reevaluating the exorbitant valuations of large US tech companies due to their mishandled earnings, which is producing turbulence in the equities markets. Although the Nasdaq 100 has gained 31% so far this year, it doesn’t seem to be susceptible to negativity. However, there is increasing worry that this may change in the event of a larger selloff in the stock market.
US first unemployment claims and GDP figures are among the plethora of economic data that will be released later on Thursday. The European Central Bank is also scheduled to make a policy announcement, likely holding interest rates for the first time in almost a year.
PLC Unilever dropped 2.7%. Customers are switching to competitor products in order to save money, resulting in the lowest ever percentage of enterprises gaining market share—38%. Sales growth in the third quarter fell barely short of projections.
The WPP Plc fell 3%. After revealing dismal sales, the advertising behemoth cut its revenue growth forecast, attributing the decline to declining technology industry expenditure and China’s faltering economy.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG saw a 6% decrease. The automaker revealed a decrease in third-quarter profits compared to the same period last year as inflation drove up the cost of labour and components alike.