{"id":264,"date":"2025-04-17T11:44:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T11:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/?p=264"},"modified":"2025-04-19T23:34:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T23:34:20","slug":"wall-street-is-mixed-after-unitedhealths-worst-drop-in-decades-offsets-gains-for-most-us-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/wall-street-is-mixed-after-unitedhealths-worst-drop-in-decades-offsets-gains-for-most-us-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street is mixed after UnitedHealth\u2019s worst drop in decades offsets gains for most US stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Wall Street is drifting between gains and losses Thursday as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/unitedhealth-guidance-cut-q1-miss-medicare-c5e879fadc2fc99eee65c80dac3cda62\">UnitedHealth Group\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0stock plunges toward its worst drop in more than a quarter century, while most of the rest of the U.S. stock market ticks higher.<\/p>\n<p>The S&amp;P 500 was up 0.7% in its final day of trading in a holiday-shortened week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 287 points, or 0.7%, as of 1:02 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.<\/p>\n<p>UnitedHealth was the heaviest force dragging on the market, and its stock tumbled 21.9% toward its worst day since 1998.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"LIVE: New York Stock Exchange\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pqAYDapIvLM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>The health care giant reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts\u2019 expectations, and it also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/unitedhealth-guidance-cut-q1-miss-medicare-c5e879fadc2fc99eee65c80dac3cda62\">slashed its forecast<\/a>\u00a0for financial results this year. It was surprised by how much care its Medicare Advantage customers were getting from doctors and outpatient services, which was above the company\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n<p>Another high-profile stock,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ai-nvidia-amd-chips-trump-controls-0e6fbdc1ad8b54d8ecc704393c2a1558\">Nvidia<\/a>, also dragged on the market after sinking a second straight day following its disclosure that new export limits on chips to China could hurt its first-quarter results by $5.5 billion. It sank 2.8% and was the second-heaviest weight on the S&amp;P 500.<\/p>\n<p>But a wide majority of stocks across Wall Street were nevertheless rising, including more than four out of every five within the S&amp;P 500 index. Technology stocks held steadier following their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/stocks-markets-rates-tariffs-aeb0ed831602ab06235065aace6df5ec\">sell-off from the day before<\/a>\u00a0after global heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a profit for the latest quarter that matched analysts\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps more importantly, it also said it hasn\u2019t seen a drop-off in activity from its customers because of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/tariffs-timeline-trade-war-trump-canada-mexico-china-a9d714eea677488ef9397547d838dbd0\">President Donald Trump\u2019s trade war<\/a>, as some other companies have suggested.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the company known as TSMC was cautious. \u201cWhile we have not seen any changes in our customers\u2019 behavior so far, uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist,\u201d Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said. TSMC\u2019s stock that trades in the United States rose 1.1%.<\/p>\n<p>Eli Lilly was another winner after the drugmaker reported encouraging results for a once-daily pill that could help treat people with obesity and diabetes. Its stock jumped 15.9%.<\/p>\n<p>Exxon Mobil rose 3.7%, and ConocoPhillips rallied 4.2% as oil prices rose to recover some of their sharp losses taken this month amid worries that the trade war could hurt the global economy.<\/p>\n<p>Uncertainty still remains high about tariffs, which Trump has said will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and trim how much more it imports than it exports. Economists worry that the tariffs, if fully implemented and left in place for a while, could cause a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/recession-tariffs-economy-inflation-5a24ff198dcd6813b53f44c662354b6a\">recession<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Trump on Thursday offered some encouraging signals that negotiations with other countries could lead to lower tariffs, which is what Wall Street is hoping for.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad a very productive call with the President of Mexico yesterday,\u201d Trump said on his Truth Social network. \u201cLikewise, I met with the highest level Japanese Trade Representatives. It was a very productive meeting. Every Nation, including China, wants to meet!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The uncertainty about what will happen in Trump\u2019s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs, though, could by itself damage the economy. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell helped send stocks lower Wednesday\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/inflation-economy-tariffs-federal-reserve-3dd54eb572f1d37e202a8a30223fc14d\">when he said again<\/a>\u00a0that Trump\u2019s tariffs appear to be larger than the central bank was expecting, which could in turn slow the economy and raise inflation more than it had earlier thought.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related left\">\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\" data-curated-ids=\"\" data-relation-type=\"automatic-primary-section\">Related Articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/04\/19\/colorado-gabe-evans-jeff-hurd-donald-trump-tariffs-election-2026\/\" title=\"With Trump&#8217;s honeymoon &#8220;very likely over,&#8221; Colorado&#8217;s Gabe Evans, Jeff Hurd navigate tough political terrain\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tWith Trump&#8217;s honeymoon &#8220;very likely over,&#8221; Colorado&#8217;s Gabe Evans, Jeff Hurd navigate tough political terrain\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/04\/19\/colorado-job-growth-fifth-slowest-employment\/\" title=\"Colorado&#8217;s job growth fifth slowest in country last month\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tColorado&#8217;s job growth fifth slowest in country last month\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/04\/18\/trump-tariffs-rare-earths\/\" title=\"The US has a single rare earths mine. Chinese export limits are energizing a push for more\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tThe US has a single rare earths mine. Chinese export limits are energizing a push for more\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/04\/18\/trump-tariffs-falling-dollar\/\" title=\"Strange sell-off in the dollar raises the specter of investors losing trust in the US under Trump\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tStrange sell-off in the dollar raises the specter of investors losing trust in the US under Trump\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2025\/04\/18\/ibotta-bryan-leach-net-worth\/\" title=\"Year after taking Ibotta public, founder Bryan Leach worth $150M\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dfm-title metered\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tYear after taking Ibotta public, founder Bryan Leach worth $150M\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>That could set the Fed up for a dilemma. It could cut interest rates to help the economy, but that would also push inflation higher. It has no good tool to fix both at the same time. Powell said again on Wednesday that the Fed would wait to see how conditions play out more before moving on interest rates.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-powell-federal-reserve-fed-termination-b6148c8048dda538a6ca3b5a270fd09e\">criticized that stance<\/a>\u00a0Thursday, saying the Fed is \u201calways TOO LATE AND WRONG.\u201d He also said, \u201cPowell\u2019s termination cannot come fast enough!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That could spook Wall Street. An independent Fed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/turkey-central-bank-interest-rates-33610217e70f157478e03f031d50fad9\">able to act without influence<\/a>\u00a0from the White House is one of the primary reasons the United States has long enjoyed its status as a safe place to invest. History suggests central banks with more autonomy tend to have economies with lower and more stable inflation.<\/p>\n<p>Research also suggests Trump&#8217;s past attacks on the Fed in favor of lower interest rates may have helped drive expectations in financial markets for lower rates, which in turn may have had some influence on the Fed. But conditions are different this time around from Trump&#8217;s first term, when inflation was low.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis request for lower rates could backfire if markets perceive that going forward the Fed will be less committed to low and stable inflation,\u201d according to Francesco Bianchi, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n<p>In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.33% from 4.29% late Wednesday. It had been easing for much of this week, following last week\u2019s scary rise. That sudden climb last week had raised concerns that Trump\u2019s trade war\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/treasurys-bond-market-yield-tariff-46b4818710f01b8cc93fd002081167b0\">may be causing investors worldwide to lose faith<\/a>\u00a0in U.S. investments as the world\u2019s safest.<\/p>\n<p>Reports Thursday morning came in mixed on the U.S. economy. One said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/unemployment-benefits-jobless-claims-layoffs-labor-10f25f51e4ec0510a3a020aa20ec48d9\">fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits<\/a>\u00a0last week than economists expected in the latest signal that the job market remains relatively solid. But another report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly flipped to contraction from growth.<\/p>\n<p>In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped 0.6% in France and 0.5% in Germany. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/europe-economy-rates-tariffs-d5db66fe8353571d2c88a27f9e916561\">European Central Bank cut its main interest rate<\/a>, which is something that often pushes stock prices higher. But investors worldwide had already been expecting the move for a while.<\/p>\n<p>In Asia, indexes were stronger. Stocks rose 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1.3% in Japan.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-trade-tariffs-japan-negotiations-bessent-lutnick-9134808d0e4aaf30bc60b28d7adc9b32\">Trump joined<\/a>\u00a0Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in talks Wednesday with a Japanese delegation in Washington.<\/p>\n<p><em>AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Wall Street is drifting between gains and losses Thursday as\u00a0UnitedHealth Group\u2019s\u00a0stock plunges toward its worst drop in more than a quarter century, while most of the rest of the U.S. stock market ticks higher. The S&amp;P 500 was up 0.7% in its final day of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}