U.S. Stocks Fall as Tech Earnings Drive Mixed Performance

On Thursday, the U.S. stock market experienced a broad sell-off, with all three major indices closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.74%, ending the day at 44,130.98 points. The S&P 500 index declined by 0.37%, closing at 6,339.39 points. The Nasdaq Composite index edged down by 0.03%, finishing at 21,122.45 points. Notably, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reached new intraday highs during the session but subsequently retreated, with the market experiencing a late-day sell-off.

The performance of popular technology stocks was mixed. Meta Platforms surged by over 11%, while Microsoft rose by nearly 4%. However, Arm Holdings dropped by over 13%, and Tesla declined by over 3%. Google and Broadcom both fell by more than 2%. Semiconductor equipment and materials, as well as weight loss drug concept stocks, led the declines. Novo Nordisk fell by nearly 6%, KLA Corporation dropped by nearly 5%, and ASML Holding declined by over 3%. Eli Lilly and Pfizer both fell by more than 2%.

The strong performance of Meta and Microsoft was driven by their recent impressive earnings reports. Meta's second-quarter revenue reached 475.2 billion dollars, a 22% year-over-year increase, surpassing market expectations of 448 billion dollars. The company's net income was 183.4 billion dollars, a 36% year-over-year increase, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of exceeding expectations. Microsoft's fourth fiscal quarter revenue for the 2025 fiscal year was 764.4 billion dollars, an 18% year-over-year increase, the fastest growth rate in nearly three years. The company's net income was 272.3 billion dollars, a 24% year-over-year increase, exceeding expectations of 252 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. bucked the trend, with the index rising by 0.88%. NIO Inc. surged by 7.98%, Kingsoft Cloud rose by 5.85%, and CenturyLink gained by 3.62%. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. increased by 2.77%, Bilibili Inc. rose by 2.44%, Baidu Inc. gained by 2.25%, and Xpeng Inc. increased by 1.00%.

On July 31, the U.S. President signed an executive order determining the "reciprocal" tariff rates to be imposed on multiple countries and regions, with rates ranging from 10% to 41%. The White House announced that the tariff rate on Canada would be increased from 25% to 35%, effective August 1. The administration stated that it was necessary to adjust the "reciprocal" tariff rates on certain countries. The executive order specified that the listed countries would be subject to the tariff rates outlined, while non-listed countries would be subject to a uniform 10% tariff.

Analysts believe that these tariff adjustments will introduce new variables into the global trade landscape and have a significant impact on market sentiment. Additionally, the Federal Reserve concluded a two-day monetary policy meeting on July 30, deciding to maintain the federal funds rate target range at 4.25% to 4.50%. This marks the fifth consecutive meeting where the Fed has chosen to keep interest rates unchanged, in line with market expectations.