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US stock markets weaken, Amazon tumbles 7%

Picture of Drew Meredith, CFP
Drew Meredith, CFP
Picture of Drew Meredith, CFP

Drew Meredith, CFP

Drew Meredith is one of the founders of Wattle Partners. He is an experienced financial and investment adviser with expertise in self-managed superannuation funds, superannuation strategies, investment analysis and portfolio construction. Drew is a Partner at Wattle Partners.
More analysis

US stock markets struggled in their final session, the Dow Jones falling 0.4%, S&P 500 down 0.5% and Nasdaq 0.7% for the day.

Amazon stock crunched

The selling pressure came after Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) forecasted a slowing in sales growth for FY22, down from an incredible 40% to a ‘meagre’ 27% according to markets.

Amazon stock dropped by over 7% as the anticipated difficulty in meeting strong pandemic-induced comparables shook markets.

Featured video: Big tech earnings, Dubber’s cap raise & more

US markets weaken across the week

The final day’s trade saw all three indices falling for the week, the Dow Jones 0.4%, S&P 500 0.4% and Nasdaq 1.1%, respectively.

Big tech and consumer businesses were the key despite 80% of reporting S&P 500 companies exceeding expectations.

On the positive side, consumer spending rose another 1% in June, suggesting the savings glut may recede once the vaccine rollout is complete.

China continues to tank

Ultimately, the week was all about China, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng index dropping the most in July since 2018.

The pressure initially came from regulatory changes in the education sector but expanding into any company listed in the US or with perceived ‘market power’.

Caterpillar forecasts weaker outlook

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), which makes industrial and farming machinery and is seen as a barometer for the global economy, reported a near tripling in profit to US$1.41 billion, on the back of 28% revenue growth.

Caterpillar shares fell 2.7% despite the news as management flagged a slowdown in sales post the quarter end.

US stock market movers

Here’s how other popular US stocks closed out the week on Friday.

Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to buck the negative lead from US markets to open higher on Monday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.

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At the time of publishing, the author of this article does not have a financial or commercial interest in any of the companies mentioned.

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Wattle Partners is a financial advice firm, servicing clients around Australia, specialising in retirement planning (pre and post retirement). 

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