US stock markets all closed between 0.5% and 0.6% lower, led by the Nasdaq which was down 0.6%. It was a wait and see session ahead of Jerome Powell’s impending policy speech.
Markets also digested an unexpected bombing at Kabul airport, which saw increased volatility and a short-term spike in the gold price.
GDP confirmed, Dell delivers
On the positive side, GDP was confirmed at 6.6% and shares in Dell (NYSE: DELL) finished flat after a strong earnings result.
The group reported a 15% increase in sales, an acceleration of the April quarter, with product outperforming services, up 16%, as businesses ramp up their upgrades, whilst PC sales smashed expectations finishing 27% higher. Profits were 18% higher to US$1.8 billion.
Peloton reports
Treadmill and bike seller Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON), a huge beneficiary of lockdowns, fell 2% after flagging a significant slowdown in sales. The company reported a quarterly loss of US$313 million, showing the trends of yesterday are not guaranteed to continue.
US stock market movers
These US stocks were some of the biggest movers on Thursday:
- Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) up 7.6%
- Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) up 5.1%
- Crowdstrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) up 3.3%
- Duolingo (NASDAQ: DUOL) down 5.8%
- Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) down 9.4%
- Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) down 12.1%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to follow US markets lower at the open on Friday. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) are gearing up to release results, as per Rask Media’s ASX reporting season calendar.
