Earnings Pressure Weighs Down US Stocks as Dow Leads Decline

The US stock market closed lower on Thursday, weighed down by earnings pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the declines, falling nearly 1%, while the S&P 500 slipped modestly and the Nasdaq Composite held up relatively well.

Despite a strong quarter from SanDisk, the company's forward guidance failed to satisfy investors who have become accustomed to increasingly optimistic outlooks from AI-related companies. The stock sold off sharply after earnings, suffering significant technical damage.

The Dow's underperformance was driven by weakness in several heavyweight components, including Boeing, Salesforce, Honeywell, Goldman Sachs, and UnitedHealth. These five stocks accounted for much of the Dow's decline as investors rotated away from industrial, financial, and healthcare names.