Stock Market News: Privacy Worries Hit Facebook; UPS Makes a Big Bet
The stock market moved lower on Thursday morning, with investors mostly pointing to a rising number of deaths in China from the coronavirus outbreak. Some upbeat financial reports from prominent U.S. stocks helped to counterbalance some of the downward impact from the disease, but other earnings results ended up disappointing investors. As of 11 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was down 132 points to 28,603. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) fell 20 points to 3,253, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) was lower by 51 points to 9,224.
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) was one of the companies whose earnings numbers weren't able to overcome a sense of foreboding among shareholders, and in its case, even the company's CFO was mindful of potential challenges on the horizon. Meanwhile, United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) weighed in with solid results, but its need for massive investment to keep up with its rivals could hurt its near-term outlook.
Facebook shares dropped 7% Thursday morning after the social media giant released its fourth-quarter financial report. Slowing growth has been inevitable as Facebook grows, but the extent of the slowdown and the potential challenges to earnings in 2020 turned investor sentiment more negative.
Source Fool.com
