S&P 500 posts third straight losing day as Meta, Microsoft fail to lift market

Stocks slid on Thursday as struggles in the broader market overshadowed blockbuster results from megacap tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.37% and closed at 6,339.39 for its third straight losing day, while the Nasdaq Composite inched down 0.03% to settle at 21,122.45. Both indexes touched intraday records before retreating from those levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 330.30 points, or 0.74%, ending at 44,130.98.

“Magnificent Seven” titans Microsoft and Meta respectively rose about 4% and 11% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Software giant Microsoft said that annual revenue from its cloud computing service Azure exceeded $75 billion. Meta issued an upbeat third-quarter sales outlook, surpassing the Street’s estimates. Microsoft’s strong earnings print propelled the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization.

The continued rise of tech stocks failed to boost the broader market on Thursday, however, with nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors in the red. UnitedHealth and Merck led the way lower within the Dow, losing 6% and 4%, respectively.

“These market reactions—despite strong earnings, capex, and buyback activity —are becoming increasingly difficult to justify,” said Joseph Cusick, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Calamos Investments. “At the same time, downside moves have been relatively contained.”

Stocks suffered from a reappraisal of Federal Reserve policy after this week’s central bank meeting left many investors questioning whether rates will fall in September. Also knocking sentiment was Friday’s White House deadline to impose sharply higher tariffs on leading trading partners, from India to Brazil.

President Donald Trump announced that a 25% duty on Mexican imports would be extended for another 90 days.