The US markets ended significantly lower on Friday as a steep drop from Amazon (AMZN) weighed on the markets, with the online retail giant plunging by 7.6 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month. The nosedive by Amazon came after the company reported second quarter earnings that beat expectations, but its revenues missed estimates for the first time since the third quarter of 2018. Shares of Pinterest (PINS) also moved sharply lower after the image-sharing website operator reported better than expected second quarter earnings and revenues but a quarterly decline in monthly average users. Caterpillar (CAT), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) also moved to the downside despite reporting quarterly results that exceeded analyst estimates. On the other hand, Procter & Gamble (PG) posted a strong gain after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results, although the consumer products giant also warned about the impact of higher input costs.
On the economic data front, the Commerce Department released a report unexpectedly showing a slight increase in personal income in the month of June. The report showed personal income inched up by 0.1 percent in June after tumbling by a revised 2.2 percent in May. The uptick surprised market participants, who had expected personal income to dip by 0.3 percent compared to the 2.0 percent slump originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending jumped by 1.0 percent in June after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in May. Street had expected personal spending to increase by 0.7 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month. The report also showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth crept up to 3.5 percent in June from 3.4 percent in May.
Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 149.06 points or 0.42 percent to 34,935.47, Nasdaq declined 105.59 points or 0.71 percent to 14,672.68 and S&P 500 was down by 23.89 points or 0.54 percent to 4,395.26.