US stock markets struggled in their final session, the Dow Jones falling 0.4%, S&P 500 down 0.5% and Nasdaq 0.7% for the day.
Amazon stock crunched
The selling pressure came after Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) forecasted a slowing in sales growth for FY22, down from an incredible 40% to a ‘meagre’ 27% according to markets.
Amazon stock dropped by over 7% as the anticipated difficulty in meeting strong pandemic-induced comparables shook markets.
Featured video: Big tech earnings, Dubber’s cap raise & more
US markets weaken across the week
The final day’s trade saw all three indices falling for the week, the Dow Jones 0.4%, S&P 500 0.4% and Nasdaq 1.1%, respectively.
Big tech and consumer businesses were the key despite 80% of reporting S&P 500 companies exceeding expectations.
On the positive side, consumer spending rose another 1% in June, suggesting the savings glut may recede once the vaccine rollout is complete.
China continues to tank
Ultimately, the week was all about China, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng index dropping the most in July since 2018.
The pressure initially came from regulatory changes in the education sector but expanding into any company listed in the US or with perceived ‘market power’.
Caterpillar forecasts weaker outlook
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), which makes industrial and farming machinery and is seen as a barometer for the global economy, reported a near tripling in profit to US$1.41 billion, on the back of 28% revenue growth.
Caterpillar shares fell 2.7% despite the news as management flagged a slowdown in sales post the quarter end.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks closed out the week on Friday.
- Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM) up 21.9%
- Dexcom (NASDAQ: DXCM) up 13.0%
- Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) up 3.1%
- MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) down 4.4%
- eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) down 7.1%
- Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) down 18.2%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to buck the negative lead from US markets to open higher on Monday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.
