Nasdaq Sinks to New Low In Volatile Trading

Barry Adams
24 May, 2022
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street plunged but indexes managed to trim losses in the final hour of trading. 

The S&P 500 declined 0.81% to 3,941.48 and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.4% to 11,264.46. 

Major indexes were on the defensive in the morning after social media app operator Snap Inc issued a revenue warning and said digital advertising sales are running below estimates in the current quarter. 

Averages attempted to climb higher at least six times before trimming the losses in half in active trading. 

Despite Snap's relative small footprint in the digital advertising market, nervous investors sold stocks of larger companies in the industry. 

Snap Inc plunged 43% to $12.79.  

Alphabet Inc declined 5% to $2,120, Meta Platforms fell 7.2% to $181.95, and Apple Inc declined 1.6% to $140.80. 

High anxieties were also on display in the bond market and the yield on 10-year Treasury notes ran up to 3.21% before subsiding to 2.79%. 

Crude oil futures also traded in a tight range but closed down 14 cents to $110.15 a barrel. 

Home sales in April plunged 16% from a year ago largely after buyers walked away from record high prices and rising mortgage rates. 

Seasonally adjusted single-family new home sales declined 16% to 591,000 annual rate, according to the estimate released by the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The sales were lower than the 750,000 annual rate that many economists had anticipated.

Home sales in April were the slowest since April 2020 when sales were at an annual pace of 623,000. 

Auto parts retailer reported better than expected quarterly results. 

AutoZone jumped 5.8% to $1910.22 after reporting an increase in same store sales despite cold weather and late arrival of spring and tough comparison with the previous year. 

Advance Auto Parts edged down 1.7% to $180.23 after same store sales increased 0.6% and jumped 25.3% on a two-year basis. 

Nordstrom, Inc after the close reported fiscal first quarter total revenues rose 20% to $3.57 billion and net income of $20 million or 13 cents a share compared to a loss of $166 million or $1.05 a share. 

The retailer revised higher earnings per share for the year between $3.38 and $3.68 from the earlier estimate of $3.18 to $3.50.