Nasdaq futures sink 1 percent after disappointing earnings

BLOOMBERG

Stocks tumbled, with Nasdaq index futures losing about 1%, as investors punished companies reporting weaker-than-expected earnings.
Meta Inc sank 4% in US pre-market trading after saying it’s at the whim of an uncertain economic environment. Google’s parent Alphabet Inc lost 2.3%, extending a selloff on disappointing cloud figures. Amazon.com Inc, which reports results after the bell, slid 1.5%.
The bearish mood carried over to other markets, with European and Asian equities also recording steep losses.
The greenback strengthened and gold added 0.5%. The yen slumped back past 150 per dollar again, fuelling speculation about government intervention in the currency market.
Traders are “opting to sell first in fear that sentiment will get worse before it gets better,” said Paul de La Baume, an investment advisor at BNP Paribas Suisse SA.
Earnings missteps at big US tech companies are causing ructions in equity markets as investors rethink sky-high valuations against a backdrop of rising Treasury yields.
While the Nasdaq 100 has been seemingly immune to pessimism, with the index still up 31% this year, there’s now growing concern about its vulnerability in a wider stock market selloff.
On the economic front, US initial jobless claims and GDP numbers were part of a flurry of data on Thursday.
A policy decision is also due from the European Central Bank, which is expected to keep interest rates on hold for the first time in more than a year.