by David French
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended in mixed order on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq ending in the red in the wake of Netflix’s decline the day after the publication of the video giant’s disappointing quarterly results in line, which made investors wary of high-growth stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.71%, or 249.59 points, to 35,160.79 points.
The broader S&P-500 fell 2.76 points, or 0.06%, to 4,459.45 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 166.59 points (1.22%) to 13,453.07 points.
Conversely, the Dow Jones benefited from the solid results of Procter & Gamble and IBM to end up.
Netflix on Tuesday reported the first decline in a decade in subscriber numbers, a poor performance that surprised markets and which the world’s leading streaming company attributed to inflation, the war in Ukraine and competition increased in the sector.
The 35.1% plunge in the Netflix stock, from post-closing trading on Tuesday, had repercussions on the technology sector and stocks considered to have benefited fully from the coronavirus health crisis – in particular for the measures of containment measures taken in response to the pandemic.
So other streaming-related titles – Walt Disney, Roku and Warner Bros. Discovery – declined by more than 5.5%, as did businesses that grew during the lockdowns, such as Zoom Video Communications, Doordash and Peloton Interactive.
Tech giants and other high-growth stocks have been struggling since the start of the year amid runaway inflation that has investors fearing a sharp rise in interest rates.
Eight of the major sectors of the S&P-500 ended up, like real estate.
The quarterly earnings season has generally started with a bang. Of the 60 S&P-500 companies that reported results, 80% beat expectations, Refinitiv data shows.
Tesla declined pending the release of its post-closing quarterly results, as investors questioned the automaker’s adherence to its lofty targets.
(French version Jean Terzian)