S&P 500 rises as investors try to claw back losses; UnitedHealth drags Dow 500 points lower
The S&P 500 ticked higher Thursday, the last trading day of the week, as traders tried to recover some of the steep losses suffered in the previous session. However, a massive drop in UnitedHealth sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply lower.
The broad market index climbed 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded around flat. The Dow shed more 518 points, or 1.3%, driven by a 17% decline in UnitedHealth following an earnings miss.
Eli Lilly, on the other hand, jumped 13% after delivering positive trial results for a weight-loss pill. U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor popped 3% on a strong quarterly financial report.
Those moves come after a sharp decline on Wednesday, led by tech names. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 700 points. The Nasdaq Composite declined more than 3%, bringing the tech-heavy index closer to bear market territory.
Chipmaking giant Nvidia slid 1.5% on Thursday, building on its drop of nearly 7% in the previous session. The artificial intelligence darling disclosed a quarterly charge of about $5.5 billion tied to exporting its H20 graphics processing units, or GPUs, to China and other destinations due to U.S. export controls.
Stocks also took a hit on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Trump’s levies could drive up inflation in the near term and are “likely to move us further away from our goals.” Powell said the central bank may find itself in a “challenging scenario” in which its dual-mandate goals — to achieve maximum employment and stable prices — are in tension.
Source : CNBC
