Investing.com – Wall Street was mixed on Thursday, as slower user growth at Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) weighed on technology stocks, while trade talks between the U.S. and European Union eased worries.
The S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.19%, to 2,840.55 as of 9:40 AM ET (13:40 GMT), while the Dow increased 98 points, or 0.39%, to 25,512.91 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 72 points, or 0.92%, to 7,859.47.
Earnings were the main focus on Thursday, with 74 companies of the S&P 500 expected to report results today. The main focus will be on Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), which reports after the closing bell.
Facebook is on track for its biggest share price drop ever, after the company warned that margins could fall due to privacy safeguard costs and slowing usage of the site. The social media site slumped more than 18% after the morning bell.
Other technology stocks fell, with Amazon.com falling 1.06%, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) down 0.56% and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) slumping 2.99% after Trump criticized the social media site for allegedly shadow banning Republicans.
McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) inched down 0.53% after U.S. sales growth cooled, while Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was down 2.91% after it raised its expense outlook for 2018.
Elsewhere, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) rose 5.42% after it said it would drop its bid for Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors, while Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) rose 4.17% after its earnings came in higher than expected.
Meanwhile, trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU eased after a productive meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday.
The two agreed to not impose car tariffs as the countries begin negotiations to cut trade barriers.
In Europe stocks were mostly up. Germany’s DAX surged 212 points, or 1.69%, while in France the CAC 40 increased 25 points, or 0.47%, and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 6 points, or 0.09%. Meanwhile, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 35 points, or 1.03%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 67 points, or 0.70%.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.27% to $1,228.50 a troy ounce, while crude oil futures fell 0.07% to $69.25 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.29% to 94.25.