US open: Major indices sink as tech earnings disappoint, crypto slide deepens

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were firmly in the red early on Thursday as Alphabet and Qualcomm both traded lower following their quarterly earnings reports and cryptocurrency losses accelerated.

As of 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.99% at 49,010.43, while the S&P 500 shed 1.38% to 6,788.03, and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.93% weaker at 22,461.42.

The Dow opened 490.87 points lower on Thursday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session.

Google parent company Alphabet was in focus at the open after beating on both the top and bottom lines, as it revealed it would significantly increase its AI spending in 2026, while chipmaker Qualcomm was also drawing an amount of investor attention after it reported record first-quarter revenues, but cautioned that a growing shortage of memory chips would weigh on future sales.

In terms of Thursday's earnings, Bristol-Myers Squibb exceeded analyst expectations with its fourth quarter revenues of $12.5bn and earnings of $1,26 per share, but providing 2026 guidance that indicated reflected ongoing pressure on top-selling drugs Eliquis and Opdivo, as well as Medicare price negotiation, while Est�e Lauder reported second-quarter earnings per share of $0.89 on revenues of $4.23bn, up 43% and 6% year-on-year, respectively, but warned that tariff-related headwinds would weigh on profitability by approximately $100m.

Elsewhere, Hershey posted strongerthanexpected Q4 results, with adjusted earnings of $1.71 per share, comfortably ahead of the $1.40 forecast, and revenues of $3.09bn, 7% higher year-on-year and ahead of expectations of $2.97bn.

Still to come, Amazon will report its latest quarterly earnings.

Bitcoin was also in focus after the benchmark cryptocurrency briefly dipped below $70,000 as a wider pullback in risk assets gathered pace, marking its first drop through the level since November 2024. Market participants have flagged the $70,000 level as a key threshold, warning that a sustained break below it could open the door to further downside. As of 1515 GMT, bitcoin was down 6.67% at $68,145.60.

On the macro front, US employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the highest monthly total since October and the largest January figure since 2009, sharply higher than the 33,553 cuts reported in December. Transportation led the reductions with 31,243 cuts, driven almost entirely by UPS's plan to shed 30,000 roles after ending its partnership with Amazon, while the tech sector followed with 22,291 cuts, most of them stemming from Amazon's restructuring.

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 31 January, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims surged to 231,000, up by 22,000 from the prior week's unrevised reading and firmly ahead of market expectations of 212,000, while continuing claims rose by 25,000 to 1.84m. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 6,000 to 212,250.

Finally, job openings fell to 6.5m in December, according to the latest JOLTS report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, extending their steady downward trend. Openings declined across several major sectors, including professional and business services, retail trade and finance and insurance, with the jobopenings rate little changed at 3.9%. Quits were flat at 3.2m and layoffs held near 1.8m, signalling little monthtomonth movement in overall labour churn.pening report will follow at 1500 GMT.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $372.65 6.38%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $121.00 2.26%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $299.44 1.43%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $237.70 1.38%

Boeing Co. (BA) $238.96 1.28%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $78.05 0.90%

Visa Inc. (V) $332.67 0.83%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $325.29 0.49%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $49.07 0.18%

American Express Co. (AXP) $354.24 0.16%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $31.08 -4.07%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $399.11 -3.81%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $194.61 -2.42%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $81.95 -2.42%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $62.99 -1.91%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $312.49 -1.51%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $178.70 -1.40%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $900.70 -1.38%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $683.01 -1.27%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $272.96 -1.07%

S&P 500 - Risers

McKesson Corp. (MCK) $940.08 14.36%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $178.37 12.47%

Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $141.93 9.24%

Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $225.62 9.08%

Cencora Inc (COR) $353.41 7.10%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $448.64 6.73%

Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $219.63 6.73%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $372.65 6.38%

Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (JKHY) $181.60 5.42%

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $77.24 5.30%

S&P 500 - Fallers

FMC Corp. (FMC) $13.53 -20.36%

Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $97.00 -18.90%

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $134.34 -11.26%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $403.35 -10.27%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $264.40 -9.17%

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQV) $184.09 -9.11%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $196.69 -8.14%

Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK) $396.80 -7.69%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $210.79 -7.41%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $380.03 -7.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $23.13 12.92%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $178.37 12.47%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $448.64 6.73%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $372.65 6.38%

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $77.24 5.30%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $164.66 3.99%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $149.78 3.98%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $276.21 3.68%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $106.21 3.65%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $77.36 3.54%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $134.34 -11.26%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $403.35 -10.27%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $264.40 -9.17%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $210.79 -7.41%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $380.03 -7.11%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $393.30 -6.89%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $320.96 -6.24%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $322.25 -6.07%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $223.96 -6.06%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $14.86 -5.65%