Tech Giants' Disappointing Forecasts and Jobs Data Rattle U.S. Stock Market

Futures drop after dismal Amazon, Intel forecasts; jobs data in focus

Futures fell sharply on Friday after Amazon and Intel presented downbeat forecasts as concerns over the health of the U.S. economy lingered, while investors awaited a crucial jobs report for clues on the labor market. Amazon.com slumped 8.2% in premarket trading after the company reported slowing online sales growth in the second quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper purchase options. Intel tumbled 20.5%, set for its biggest fall in 24 years after forecasting third-quarter revenue below estimates and suspending its dividend, starting in the fourth quarter. Other chip stocks such as Nvidia, Qualcomm , Broadcom, Micron Technology and Arm Holdings dropped between 0.6% and 4.0% and were set to extend Thursday's losses. Apple inched 0.9% higher as it posted better-than-expected third-quarter iPhone sales and forecast more gains, betting on AI to attract buyers. Other megacaps such as Microsoft and Alphabet dropped 1.8% each. Meta edged 0.5% lower after soaring on Thursday after upbeat results. Concerns around the dominance of the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks persist as earnings from most of these Big Tech companies have failed to enthuse investors, underscoring the narrative of their valuations being inflated. Wall Street's "fear gauge" breached the long-term average level of 20 points for the first time since mid April. All eyes will be on the nonfarm payrolls reading at 8:30 a.m. ET for further signs that the U.S. labor market is easing. The data is expected to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 jobs in July, according to LSEG, after advancing by 206,000 jobs in June. At 6:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 358 points, or 0.88%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 56.5 points, or 1.03%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 290 points, or 1.52%. The Nasdaq 100 futures were trading 10% below its record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended nearly 8% below its own all-time closing level in July. All the three major indexes kicked off August with steep declines on Thursday after a round of economic data spurred fears of a faster-than-expected economic slowdown, with the U.S. Federal Reserve maintaining a restrictive monetary policy. "Thursday's (market) move appeared to reflect growing concerns about the U.S. economy, and in particular about the labor market," said Ben Snider, equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. "Although, it looked more like a recalibration of growth expectations than an indication of extreme economic pessimism." The benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow are on track to log losses for the week in which the Fed opened the door to a September interest-rate cut. Among other movers, Snap lost 17.3% after forecasting current-quarter results below expectations, while payments firm Block climbed 4.4% after raising its forecast for annual adjusted core earnings and unveiling a $3 billion buyback plan. Chevron Corp slid 0.3% after the oil giant missed estimates for second-quarter profit, hurt by weak refining margins, while Exxon Mobil rose 1.3% after posting a better-than-expected $9.2 billion second-quarter profit. Of the 342 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings for the quarter, 79.2% beat expectations, according to LSEG data. (Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Pooja Desai)

Futures slide as Amazon, Intel forecasts disappoint; jobs data awaited

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window) Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. index futures fell sharply on Friday following downbeat forecasts from Amazon and Intel, with investors awaiting a crucial jobs report for further clues on the labor market amid lingering concerns over an economic slowdown. Amazon.com slumped 8% in premarket trading after the company reported slowing online sales growth in the second quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper options for purchases. Apple slipped 0.8% amid a broader weakness in megacap stocks, even as it posted better-than-expected third-quarter iPhone sales and forecast more gains betting on AI to attract buyers. Other megacaps such as Microsoft, Tesla and Alphabet dropped more than 1% each. Meta edged 0.8% lower after soaring on Thursday following upbeat results. At 8:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 232 points, or 0.57%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 52.5 points, or 0.96%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 301.25 points, or 1.58%. Concerns around the dominance of the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks on Wall Street persist as earnings from most of these Big Tech companies have failed to enthuse investors, underscoring the narrative of their valuations being overstretched. Wall Street's "fear gauge" breached the long-term average level of 20 points for the first time since mid April. Among other major earnings, Intel tumbled 21% after forecasting third-quarter revenue below estimates and suspending its dividend starting in the fourth quarter. Other chip stocks such as Nvidia, Qualcomm , Broadcom, Micron Technology and Arm Holdings dropped between 2% and 5.4%, and were set to extend losses from Thursday. All the major three indexes kicked off August with steep declines on Thursday after a round of economic data spurred fears of a faster-than-expected economic slowdown with the U.S. Federal Reserve maintaining a restrictive monetary policy. The benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow are on track to log losses for the week that had the Fed opening the door to a September interest rate cut, Big Tech earnings and a raft of economic data. All eyes are on the nonfarm payrolls reading at 8:30 a.m. ET for further signs that the U.S. labor market is easing. The data is expected to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 jobs in July, according to LSEG, after advancing by 206,000 jobs in June. Snap lost 18% after forecasting current-quarter results below expectations, while payments firm Block climbed 6% after raising its forecast for annual adjusted core earnings and unveiling a $3 billion buyback plan. Software company Cloudflare jumped 7% after raising its annual results forecast. Of the 342 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings for the quarter, 79.2% beat expectations, according to LSEG data. (Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Wall St set to fall at open after weak jobs data; Amazon, Intel tank

A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 114,000 jobs in July Wall Street's main indexes were poised to slump at the open on Friday after weak employment numbers exacerbated worries of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, with Amazon and Intel's downbeat forecasts also flattening megacap tech and chip stocks. A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 114,000 jobs in July, sharply lower than the 175,000 additions estimated by economists polled by Reuters. The unemployment rate ticked higher, to 4.3%, from 4.1% a month ago. With fresh evidence of a weakening labor market, traders are now betting the U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver a big half-percentage-point rate cut in September versus the 25-bps cut expected before the data. At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 474 points, or 1.17%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 92.75 points, or 1.69%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 474.5 points, or 2.49%. "Now the question isn't will they cut in September, but by how much? With the Sahm rule (a recession gauge) officially being triggered, both the talk of recession and criticism of the Fed will grow louder," said Jay Woods, chief global strategist, Freedom Capital Markets. On the earnings front, Amazon.com slumped 9.9% in premarket trading after the company reported slowing online sales growth in the second quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper purchase options. Intel tumbled 24.5% after forecasting third-quarter revenue below estimates and suspending its dividend, starting in the fourth quarter. Other chip stocks were also hit and were set to extend Thursday's losses. Nvidia fell 5%, Qualcomm was lower by 3%, Broadcom lost 3.8%, Micron Technology shed 4.4% and Arm Holdings was down 5%. Apple inched 1.3% lower in a broader weakness in megacaps, even as it posted better-than-expected third-quarter iPhone sales and forecast more gains, betting on AI to attract buyers. Other megacaps such as Microsoft and Alphabet shed around 2% each. Meta also dropped, losing 2% after soaring on Thursday following upbeat results. Concerns about the dominance of the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks persist as earnings from most of these Big Tech companies have failed to enthuse investors, underscoring fears of their valuations being inflated. Wall Street's "fear gauge" breached the long-term average level of 20 points and touching its highest level since last October. Nasdaq 100 futures were trading 10% below their record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended nearly 8% below its own all-time closing level in July. Futures tracking the domestically focused small-cap Russell 2000 index dropped 3.6%. All the three major indexes kicked off August with steep declines on Thursday after a round of economic data spurred worries of a faster-than-expected economic slowdown, with the U.S. Federal Reserve maintaining a restrictive monetary policy. The benchmark S&P 500, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow are on track to log losses for a week in which the Fed opened the door to a September interest-rate cut. Among other movers, Snap lost 19.6% after forecasting current-quarter results below expectations. Chevron Corp slipped 1.8% after the oil giant missed estimates for second-quarter profit, hurt by weak refining margins. (Reporting by Ankika Biswas, Shubham Batra and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Pooja Desai)

Intel, Amazon, Nvidia, Snap fell premarket; Apple, Exxon rise By Investing.com

Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures fell sharply Friday ahead of the release of the key nonfarm payrolls number, while tech earnings dominated sentiment. Here are some of the biggest premarket U.S. stock movers today Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock slumped 21% after the chipmaker suspended its dividend and slashed its workforce to fund a costly turnaround for its chip-making business. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock fell 8.3% after the online retail giant reported slowing online sales growth in the second quarter and said cautious consumers were seeking out cheaper options for purchases. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rose 0.6% after the iPhone maker posted better-than-expected third-quarter iPhone sales and forecast more gains betting on AI to attract buyers. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock fell 3.6% following a report that the chipmaker is facing a probe from the U.S. Department of Justice over complaints from it is abusing its market dominance in developing advanced chips for artificial intelligence. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) stock rose 0.7% after the oil major posted a better-than-expected second-quarter profit based on rising output from its purchase of shale oil firm Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD). Chevron (NYSE:CVX) stock fell 0.5% after the oil company reported second-quarter earnings that missed expectations due to industry-wide pressure from lower refining margins and natural gas prices. Snap (NYSE:SNAP) stock fell 17% after the Snapchat owner forecast current-quarter results below expectations as it grapples with stiff competition from larger rivals for advertising dollars in an uncertain economy. Block (NYSE:SQ) stock rose 3.5% after the payments firm raised its forecast for annual adjusted core earnings on Thursday and unveiled a $3 billion buyback plan, betting on resilient consumer spending. Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) stock rose 6.2% after the software company raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts after a strong quarter.