NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks sank on Thursday as Wall Street absorbed disappointing quarterly results from major tech firms and anticipated additional earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 378.08 points, or 0.90 percent, to 41,763.46. The S&P 500 sank 108.22 points, or 1.86 percent, to 5,705.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 512.78 points, or 2.76 percent, to 18,095.15.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and consumer discretionary leading the laggards by losing 3.57 percent and 1.81 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, utilities and energy went up 1.04 percent and 0.66 percent, respectively.

Microsoft shares dropped 6.05 percent after its revenue outlook fell short of expectations despite an earnings beat, while Meta Platforms shed 4.09 percent following a miss on user growth and a warning about significantly higher capital expenditures in 2025. AI chip heavyweight Nvidia was down more than 4 percent along with other semiconductor stocks.

"I think we're getting to the point where AI enthusiasm and potential is not enough. These companies, while they're still levered to those themes and hold favorable long term growth profiles, are not quite delivering the growth that is priced into them," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management.

On the economic front, the latest personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, a key inflation measure for the Federal Reserve, showed a core annual increase of 2.7 percent in September, consistent with August's rise but slightly above economists' forecast of 2.6 percent.

Additionally, initial jobless claims last week fell by 12,000 to 216,000, marking a five-month low and coming in below the estimated 230,000. This data follows a sharp increase in private payrolls, adding to uncertainty ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report. Enditem

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