On Thursday the U.S. stock markets showed mixed performance. As New York closed, the Dow had risen to 49,072 points, up 0.1% from the previous trading day. A few minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 traded near 6,965 points – slightly down 0.1% – while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 stood at roughly 25,884 points, down 0.5%.
Microsoft shares plunged about 10% after the company released its latest quarterly results. While revenue and earnings beat expectations, the growth rate of the key Azure cloud business had slowed considerably and fell well below forecasts, eroding investor confidence.
The euro edged stronger over the evening. One euro bought $1.1966, which means a U.S. dollar was worth €0.8357.
Gold weakened, trading at $5.384 per fine ounce in the evening, down 0.6%, or about €144.65 per gram.
In contrast, oil prices surged: a barrel of North Sea Brent fetched $70.65 at around 10 p.m. German time, 3.3% higher than the prior day’s close.
