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Stocks are falling on Wall Street as investors pore over another batch of earnings reports from US companies. The S&P 500 dropped 1.1 per cent. The Dow Jones fell 421 points, or 0.9 per cent, in early afternoon trade. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.8 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures pointing for a loss of 24 points, or 0.3 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.3 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar was trading at US64.76¢ at 5.16am AEDT. Technology stocks were the heaviest weights on Wall Street, especially companies with huge values that give them outsize influence over the broader market’s direction. Nvidia fell 4.2 per cent and Microsoft slipped 1.9 per cent. Amazon fell 2.4 per cent. Corporate earnings and forecasts have been the big focus all week. The latest round of results and statements from executives could help shed some light on the condition and path ahead for the economy amid a lack of broader information on inflation, employment and retail sales because of the ongoing government shutdown.
