Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by technology stocks, as investors assessed second-quarter earnings and a batch of economic data. The Nasdaq Composite, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.2%, or 105.32 points, to close at 52,553.32. Eight components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, and 22 ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.5% or 387.28 points, to close at 25,881.95.
The S&P 500 lost 0.5% to end at 7,533.77. Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, three ended in negative territory, while eight were in positive territory. The Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC), and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLF) fell 1.8%, 2.9%, and 0.3%, respectively, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 2.9%.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 6.8% to 16.73. A total of 17.19 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 21.19 billion. The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 197 new highs and 155 new lows.
Solid Q2 Earnings Results
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s UNH second-quarter 2026 earnings of $6.38 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.94 per share. Quarterly net revenues were $112.03 billion, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.74%.
Abbott Laboratories’ ABT second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.31 per share handily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28. Quarterly net revenues were $12.59 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.91%.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. JBHT reported second-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.91, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.71. Quarterly net revenues were $3.5 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.50%.
Consequently, stock prices of UnitedHealth, Abbott and J.B. Hunt rose 1.2%, 10.7% and 8%, respectively. J.B. Hunt currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Department of Commerce reported that retail sales increased 0.2% in June, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.1%. The metric for May was revised upward to 1% from 0.9% reported earlier. Year over year, retail sales increased 6.7% in June. Core retail sales (excluding auto) decreased 0.2% in June, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a 0.1% increase. The metric for May was 1%.
The National Association of REALTORS reported that pending home sales decreased 5.4% in June. The metric for May was revised downward to 3.5% from 3.8% reported earlier. Year over year, pending home sales fell 0.3% in June.
The Department of Labor reported that initial claims decreased by 8,000 to 208,000 for the week ended July 11, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 217,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 to 216,000.
Continuing claims (those who have already received government aid and reported a week behind) decreased by 16,000 to 1.805 million for the week ended July 4. The previous week’s level was revised upward by 7,000 from 1,814,000 to 1,821,000, as reported earlier.
The Philly Fed Index for July came in at 41.1. The number for June was unrevised at 10.3.
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