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U.S. stocks close April on down note, as tech stocks weigh

Published 04/30/2015, 03:16 PM
Updated 04/30/2015, 04:30 PM
The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P all fell broadly on Thursday

The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P all fell broadly on Thursday

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday closing the month on a down note, as losses in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and other technology stocks weighed on all three major indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Composite index each fell by more than 1% for the session, while the NASDAQ tumbled more than 75 points to close below 5,000.

Apple plunged more than 2% on the session amid a report by the Wall Street Journal that the company is limiting shipments of the iWatch after a key component of the device was found to be defective. Apple, the worst performer of the day on the Dow, fell 3.50 or 2.72% to 125.14. The Dow lost 195.01 or 1.08% on the day to close at 17,840.52. For the month, the Dow moved higher by less than 100 points.

The top performer on the Dow was American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which gained 0.23 or 0.30% to 77.39.

The NASDAQ also had a poor session as the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF was down at one point by 4%. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL),Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) all closed down by more than 1%. Celgene fell 5.14 or 4.54% to 108.06, after posting weak quarterly earnings due to the stronger dollar. The NASDAQ closed at 4,941.42, down 82.22 or 1.64%.

On the S&P 500, tech stocks also lagged, falling by 1.61% on the session. The S&P 500 lost 21.34 or 1.01% to 2,085.51, as all 10 sectors closed in the red.

The top performer on the NASDAQ was Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), which gained 2.29 or 2.11% to 111.06. The multinational casino company rebounded one day after losing more than $2.2 billion in market value amid quarterly earnings tamped down by struggles in Macau.

Wynn Resorts finished just ahead of Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), which gained 1.43 or 1.69% to 86.22. Earlier on Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Express Scripts is a leading candidate to acquire Omnicare, Inc., a supplier of prescription drugs to nursing homes. Also this week, the St. Louis-based pharmacy benefit management organization offered a strong second quarter outlook after posting quarterly earnings in line with analysts' forecasts. The worst performer was Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), which tumbled 19.16 or 8.75% to 199.84, after the Chinese internet search provider posted its slowest quarterly growth in nearly seven years.

Energy stocks dominated the S&P 500, after U.S. crude futures ended the session near $60 a barrel -- its highest level since mid-December. The top performer on the S&P was Oil & Gas drilling company Ensco, which rose 2.38 or 9.56% to 27.28. Transocean, Noble, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO), CONSOL Energy Inc (NYSE:CNX) Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) and Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) all gained more than 4% on the session. The worst performer was Harman International Industries (NYSE:HAR), which lost 7.00 or 9.82% to 130.38 after releasing weaker than expected quarterly results.

Visa Inc (NYSE:V), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) and American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) were all scheduled to release quarterly earnings after the close.

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