US Stock Market Overview – Stock Close Mixed, Buoyed by Technology; Twitter Tumbles on Earnings Miss

US stocks were mixed on Thursday with the semi-conductor sector driving technology higher. Most sectors were higher, with communications bucking the trend. The worse than expected financial results posted by Twitter weighed on the communications space. Twitter was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 index declining approximately 21% on the session. Before the opening bell, the Commerce Department reported softer than expected durable goods orders. The ECB left rates unchanged, which buoyed the US dollar. The VIX volatility index, which measures the “at the money” implied volatility on the S&P 500 index, declined to 13.5% which is the lowest the index has been since July. Complacency has set in. The lows for the year are just below 12%.

Twitter Shares Tumble Following Earnings Miss

Twitter shares tumbled on Thursday following the release of the companies Q3 financial results. Q3 earnings were hampered by issues in a product that advertisers use to market mobile apps. Twitter reported $824 million in quarterly revenue up from $758 million a year ago but falling short of the $874 million that analysts had expected. Earnings missed expectations with the company posting $0.17 in per-share down from $0.21 a year ago and below the $0.20 expected.

Durable Goods Order Slip

US Durable Goods Orders dropped 1.1% in September, the biggest setback since a 2.3% decline in May, according to the Commerce Department. Business investment spending dipped 0.5% following a 0.6% decline in July. The decline in Durable Goods was driven by transportation which declined by 2.7%. Demand for aircraft fell 11.8% in September after a 17.2% decline in August. This category has faced headwinds in tandem with the issues facing Boeing, in the wake of the investigation into the 737 Max. Auto production fell 1.6% in September. Excluding the transportation sector, durable goods orders would still have declined 0.3% in September after a 0.3% increase excluding transportation in August.

The ECB Keeps Rate Unchanged

Europe’s central bank kept short term interest rates unchanged. This marked President Mario Draghi’s last monetary policy meeting at the ECB. The central bank also kept its forward guidance unchanged, suggesting that its main interest rates will remain at their current or lower levels until there’s strong evidence of a pickup in prices.