US stocks end volatile week with ugly session

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks finished an ugly session sharply lower on Friday (April 29) following disappointing results from Amazon, while markets grappled with worries over inflation and higher interest rates.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 4,131.93, down 3.6 per cent, tilting the index into the red for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 2.8 per cent to close at 32,977.21, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 4.2 per cent to 12,334.64.

Amazon plunged 14.1 per cent after offering a disappointing forecast as it battles rising costs amid slowing growth compared with earlier in the pandemic. The company reported its first loss since 2015.

The results were the latest in a mixed bag of earnings from large tech stocks, which are widely held and play an important role in major indices.

Among other tech companies reporting results, Apple fell 3.7 per cent and Intel shed 6.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported personal consumption expenditures climbed 1.1 per cent in March, almost twice what analysts expected, while incomes saw a forecast-beating 0.5 per cent increase, both signs of continued resilience in the economy.

But prices rose 0.9 per cent, a much bigger increase than seen in February.

Analysts are girding for next week's Federal Reserve meeting, which is expected to conclude with an interest rate hike of half-percentage point in the central bank's latest bid to counter inflation.

Among individual companies, Honeywell International was a rare standout, rising 1.9 per cent after lifting its earnings forecast, citing strong growth in commercial aviation, building products and other businesses.