NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks fell early Wednesday (Apr 16) despite strong US retail sales data, with the Nasdaq decisively lower after Nvidia disclosed a large financial hit from American export restrictions to China.
US retail sales grew 1.4 per cent last month to US$734.9 billion. The figure, which was slightly above analyst expectations, was powered by the auto sector as consumers rushed to buy goods before new tariffs kicked in.
Shares of Nvidia slumped nearly 6 per cent as the chip company disclosed that it expected a US$5.5 billion hit this quarter due to a new US licensing requirement on the primary chip it can legally sell in China.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 per cent at 40,236.71.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.9 per cent to 5,346.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 1.7 per cent to 16,546.37.
US markets have stabilised this week after upheaval in the Treasury market last week. Investors are hoping that President Trump’s decision to pull back from some tariffs will open the door to trade deals.
Among individual companies, United Airlines surged 5.2 per cent after reporting better than expected profits despite what it called a “challenging macroeconomic environment”.
