Wall Street Tumbles on Economic Data   04/25 12:42

   U.S. stocks are tumbling Thursday after a dispiriting cocktail of data 
suggested both that the economy's growth is flagging and that inflation remains 
stubbornly high. A sharp drop for Meta Platforms, one of Wall Street's most 
influential stocks, also dragged the market lower.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are tumbling Thursday after a dispiriting 
cocktail of data suggested both that the economy's growth is flagging and that 
inflation remains stubbornly high. A sharp drop for Meta Platforms, one of Wall 
Street's most influential stocks, also dragged the market lower.

   The S&P 500 was down 0.8% in afternoon trading, erasing the majority of what 
had been a big winning week so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 
479 points, or 1.3%, as of 12:52 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite 
was 1.2% lower.

   Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, dropped 11.5% 
even though it reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. Investors focused instead on big investments in artificial 
intelligence Meta pledged to make. AI has created a frenzy on Wall Street, but 
Meta is increasing its spending when it also gave a forecasted range for 
upcoming revenue whose midpoint fell below analysts' expectations.

   Expectations had built very high for Meta, along with the other "Magnificent 
Seven" stocks that drove most of the stock market's returns last year. They 
need to hit a high bar to justify their high stock prices.

   The entire U.S. stock market felt the pressure of another jump in Treasury 
yields following the disappointing data on the U.S. economy. The report shot 
directly at one of the main beliefs that sent the S&P 500 to multiple records 
this year: The economy can avoid a deep recession and support strong profits 
for companies, even if high inflation takes a while to fully get under control.

   That's what Wall Street calls a "soft landing" scenario, and expectations 
had grown recently even for a "no landing" where the economy avoids a recession 
entirely.

   But Thursday's report suggested the U.S. economy's growth slowed during the 
first three months of 2024 to a 1.6% annual rate from 3.4% at the end of 2023.

   That was weaker than expected and would have been disappointing by itself. 
Making it worse for financial markets, the report also said inflation was 
hotter during the three months than economists forecast. That could tie the 
hands of the Federal Reserve, which normally juices sluggish economies by 
cutting interest rates.

   Thursday's economic data will likely get revised a couple times as the U.S. 
government fine-tunes the numbers. But the lower-than-expected growth and 
higher-than-expected inflation is "a bit of a slap in the face to those hoping 
for a 'no landing' scenario," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex 
Wealth Management.

   "Things can change a lot from one quarter to the next, so it's too early to 
say the Fed has failed, but this doesn't help their cause."

   Treasury yields climbed immediately after the economic report's release as 
traders pared bets for cuts to rates this year by the Federal Reserve.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.70% from 4.66% just before the 
report and from 4.65% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more 
closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped back to the edge of 5% from 
4.93% late Wednesday.

   Traders are now largely betting on the possibility of just one or maybe two 
cuts to interest rates this year by the Fed, if any, according to data from CME 
Group. They came into the year forecasting six or more after inflation cooled 
notably into the end of 2023. A string of reports this year showing inflation 
remaining hotter than forecast has crushed those expectations.

   Top Fed officials themselves have said recently they could hold interest 
rates high for a while before getting full confidence inflation is heading down 
toward their target. The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate at the 
highest level since 2001. High interest rates slow the overall economy and hurt 
prices for investments.

   With interest rates looking to stay high for a while, more pressure is on 
companies to deliver bigger profits.

   Southwest Airlines fell 7.3% after the carrier reported worse results for 
the first quarter than analysts expected. CEO Robert Jordan said the airline 
was reacting quickly "to address our financial underperformance" and cope with 
delayed deliveries of new planes from Boeing. It will limit hiring, offer 
voluntary leave to employees and stop flying to four airports.

   Textron tumbled 11.1% after the maker of Bell helicopters and Cessna jets 
reported weaker profit and revenue than forecast. Caterpillar sank 6.5% despite 
reporting stronger profit than expected. Its revenue for the latest quarter 
fell short of analysts' expectations.

   IBM fell 9.2% even though it also reported stronger profit than expected. 
Its revenue likewise failed to meet analysts' forecasts, as it said it was 
buying HashiCorp in a deal valuing the multi-cloud infrastructure automation 
company at $6.4 billion.

   Carrier Global jumped 7.3% after reporting stronger earnings than expected 
after wringing more operating profit out of each $1 in revenue.

   In stock markets abroad, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 2.2% as investors wait to 
hear whether the Bank of Japan will make any moves to prop up the tumbling 
value of the yen.

   Indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.