U.S. stocks booked back-to-back losses on Thursday, with the S&P 500 index ending at the lowest level since May, while the Nasdaq Composite slid further into correction territory following another batch of disappointing megacap company earnings. A blockbuster report on summertime economic growth and retreating Treasury yields failed to bolster market sentiment.
A preliminary reading on third-quarter U.S. GDP came in hotter than expected on Thursday morning, with data from the Commerce Department showing the economy grew at an annualized pace of 4.9%, surpassing the 4.7% pace that Wall Street had expected. Consumer spending, the main engine of U.S. growth, rose at a 4% clip from July to September.
The European Central Bank on Thursday paused on interest-rate hikes for the first time since summer 2022, while the Bank of Canada Wednesday kept benchmark rates unchanged for a second straight meeting, saying steeper borrowing costs are dampening consumption and bringing supply and demand closer to balance.
China's industrial profits grew at a slower rate in September, but showed signs of improvement over the first nine months of the year as Beijing pushes to shore up the economic recovery.
Asian equities gave up early gains despite cautious optimism that solid post-market US tech earnings are set to spur a rebound on Wall Street. Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. both gained in after-trading hours.
Nifty fell again for the sixth consecutive session on October 26 even as a series of poor corporate results in the US cast a shadow on the global risk appetite already impacted by the conflict in the Middle east. At close, Nifty was down 1.39% or 264.9 points at 18857.3. Nifty continues to fall relentlessly. On Thursday it fell with a downgap and is now close to its 200 DEMA of 18830. The upgap support at 18829 is also close by. It could now bottom out for the time being over the next 1-2 days and 18691-18829 could be a support while 18972 could be the initial resistance.
Indian markets could open mildly lower, in line with mostly lower Asian markets today and negative US markets on Oct 26.