US stock indices close lower, Nasdaq loses over 650 points

US stock indices deepened their losses on July 24 with investors evaluating the quarterly business results, as more than 25% of the companies listed on the S&P 500 index announced their results for the second quarter.

Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell by 1.25%, or 504 points, to close at 39,853 points.

S&P 500 index fell by 2.3%, or 128 points, to 5,427 points, while the Nasdaq dropped by 3.65% or 654 points to 17,342 points.

The Big 7 stocks also declined, as Tesla shares lost 12.35%, Nvidia (-6.8%), Meta (-5.6%), Alphabet (- 5%), “Microsoft” (-3.6%), Amazon (-3%), and Apple (-2.9%).

In the European markets, the STOXX Europe 600 index retreated by 0.6% to 512.3 points, with losses in the technology, banking and automobile sectors.

The German DAX index decreased by 0.9% to 18,387 points, while the British FTSE 100 index fell by 0.15% to 8,153 points, and the French CAC 40 lost about 1.1% to close at 7,513 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei index followed the trend, sliding by 1.1%, or 439 points, to 39,154 points, and the broader Topix index fell by 1.4% to 2,793 points.

In the oil market, Brent crude for September delivery rose by 0.85%, or 70 cents, at $81.71 per barrel.

WTI crude for September delivery grew by 0.8%, or 63 cents, to record $77.59 per barrel.

As for gold, futures prices for August delivery rose by 0.35%, or $8.4, at $2,415.70 per ounce.