NEW YORK (AFP) – European stocks edged back into positive territory while Wall Street retreated on Friday as Snap shares fell after reporting bleak quarterly results.
Meanwhile, the euro came under pressure after a key survey suggested the single-currency area could be on the verge of recession due to slumping demand and rising costs.
A bigger-than-expected hike in interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) failed to provide a lasting boost to the euro.
Economic activity in the eurozone plummeted in July, the closely watched purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed, with a big drop in manufacturing and consumers’ post-lockdown spending sprees braked by high prices.
Nevertheless, Paris, Frankfurt and London all edged higher.
Back on Wall Street, a three-day streak of gains ended, cutting into the week’s gains.
The S&P 500 ended at 3,961.63, down 0.9 per cent for the day, but up 2.5 per cent for the week.
“Even though results are not great, they have been good enough,” said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.
But results by Snap, the owner of the Snapchat messaging app, landed like a bombshell, with quarterly losses nearly tripling to USD422 million despite revenue increasing 13 per cent under conditions “more challenging” than expected.
Its shares plummeted nearly 40 per cent.
The results also weighed on Facebook parent Meta platforms, which dropped 7.6 per cent, and Google parent Alphabet, which shed 5.8 per cent amid worries over Internet advertising.
