Stocks fall on weak earnings and skepticism around global stimulus

Associated Press

Stocks slid on Thursday after second-quarter financial results were weaker than expected, and as investors grew concerned about global monetary stimulus.
Facebook’s stock dropped by as much as 3% after the company said in its earnings report it was under investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told reporters that while monetary stimulus was still need to boost the economy, the odds of a recession in the EU are low.
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Major US stock indexes edged lower on Thursday as corporate earnings disappointed investors, and as skepticism began to rise around global monetary stimulus.

Facebook slipped by as much as 3% after revealing in its Q2 earnings report that the company is under investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission over antitrust concerns. The news of the probe overshadowed Facebook’s revenue exceeding Wall Street expectations.

Earnings-per-share would have beaten forecasts if not for a $5 billion fine Facebook paid the FTC over a different investigation into privacy issues.

Tesla’s earnings miss sent shares falling by as much as 15% as the automaker fell short of Wall Street estimates by a wide margin. The company posted a loss per share of $1.21 compared to an expected loss of $0.31 per share.

Here’s a look at today’s closing numbers:

The S&P 500 fell by 0.53% to 3,003.67
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.47% to 27,140.98
The Nasdaq Composite fell by 1% to 8,238.54

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Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, presented a mixed message as he told reporters that the likelihood of a recession in the European Union was low, but a "significant degree" of monetary stimulus was still needed to support economic growth.

Shares of Ford sank by as much as 7% after the automaker’s earnings report signaled continued struggles in China. The company has seen its sales drop by 27% in the country throughout the first half of 2019.

Within the S&P 500, these were the largest gainers:

Masco Corp: 8.11%
TechnipFMC: 6.03%
LKQ Corp.: 5.11%

And the largest decliners:

Align Technologies: (-26.99%)
Varian Medical Systems: (-9.51%)
Nektar Therapuetics: (-8.44%)

Every sector in the S&P 500 index posted losses. Energy fell by 1.2%, the most out of any other sector. Both materials and information technology dropped by more than 0.7%.

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