New York: Wall Street opened mixed on Wednesday — “up, down and all around” as one analyst put it — with tech shares still in the dumps after Tuesday’s selloff.
About 10 minutes into the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent to 23,881.31, while the broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat at 2,610.50.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index continued to head south, losing 0.6 percent to 6,968.45
The flood of negative stories surrounding leading technology names, including Facebook, Tesla Motors and Twitter, continued to weigh on the markets amid concerns about data sharing and another crash by a vehicle which may have been using Tesla’s Autopilot.
“Investors have become increasingly concerned over potential regulations that could be imposed on companies in this sector,” Wells Fargo advisors said.
Facebook had recovered in early trading, adding 0.7 percent, but Tesla shares sank more than five percent after Moody’s downgraded the company’s debt, and Google-parent Alphabet was slightly lower.
“The softness in the tech sector, which led to yesterday’s late-session slide, is festering, weighing on Asia and hamstringing Europe,” Charles Schwab analysts said.
But drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance jumped nearly two percent after reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Likewise yoga clothing company Lululemon Athletica surged more than eight percent on upbeat earnings and strong same-store sales.
Positive economic data also could cheer investors after the government revised growth in the fourth quarter of last year up to 2.9 percent, partly on stronger consumer spending.
AFP