Wall Street ends lower on major tech decliners
US stocks slipped on yesterday, ending the Dow’s five-day winning streak, following Adobe’s discouraging revenue outlook and investors’ disappointment over Microsoft’s new dividend.
Investors also weighed the impact of the Federal Reserve’s earlier statement, which indicated the central bank was edging closer to pumping hundreds of billions of new dollars into the sluggish economy.
Adobe Systems slid 19 per cent to $26.67, ranking as the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq a day after the software company forecast lower-than-expected revenue, citing weak demand.
Microsoft was the Dow’s top decliner, falling 2.2 per cent to $24.61. The company raised its quarterly dividend and is set to pay out about $5.5bn in annual dividends to shareholders, but the move fell short of some investors’ expectations.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 21.72 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 10,739.31. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 5.50 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,134.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 14.80 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 2,334.55.
The S&P 500 has rallied almost nine per cent in the last three weeks, hitting a four month-high on Monday and breaching a strong technical resistance level as improved economic data suggested the economy might not slide back into recession.