Wall Street had powered to fresh highs on Thursday following news that US growth accelerated more than six per cent in the first quarter and jobless claims continued to fall to new pandemic-era lows. — AFP picNEW YORK, May 1 — US markets were hit by a bout of profit-taking yesterday, while in Europe data confirming the eurozone is back in recession dampened investor enthusiasm.
US indices have also been benefitting from outsized earnings reported this week by tech heavyweights Apple, Facebook and Google. The broad-based S&P 500 ended down 0.7 per cent, retreating from Thursday’s record but eking out a gain for the week. Both the Dow and Nasdaq finished modestly lower for the week.European stocks ended the day mostly lower following data showing that the eurozone economy fell into its second recession in less than a year in the first quarter, as slow vaccinations and pandemic lockdowns stopped a rebound.
“However, the story of a lagging EU could soon start to shift, with the region expecting to ramp up their vaccinations to fully cover 70 per cent of the population by mid-July,” he added.