Nasdaq loses 377 points, tech sector drags

US stocks closed lower on Thursday, pressured by weakness in the technology sector as investors assessed the new trade agreement between the US and China.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 0.23%, or 109 points, to 47,522. The S&P 500 fell 1%, or 68 points, to 6,822, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.58%, or 377 points, to 23,581.

The tech sector on Wall Street was weighed down as Meta shares tumbled 11.33% to $666.47, Microsoft shed 2.9% to $525.82, and Nvidia lost 2% to $202.81.

Across the Atlantic, the Stoxx Europe 600 index edged down 0.10% to 574, weighed by a weak performance in major European markets.

The UK’s FTSE 100 was flat at 9,760, while Germany’s DAX remained unchanged at 24,118. France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.53% to 8,157.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 51,325 after touching a record high of 51,657, while the broader TOPIX index rose 0.70% to 3,300.

On oil, Brent crude futures for December delivery rose 0.12%, or 8 cents, to $65.00 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude for the same month gained 0.15%, or 9 cents, to $60.57 a barrel.

In precious metals, December gold futures climbed 0.38%, or $15.2, to $4,015.90 per ounce.

US President Donald Trump announced after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea that the two countries had reached a one-year trade agreement under which Beijing will resume exports of rare earth metals and purchases of US soybeans, while Washington will reduce tariffs on selected categories of Chinese imports.