May 2 (UPI) — U.S. stocks continued a slide on Wall Street on Friday to begin the month of May after officially closing out their best month in 33 years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Friday down 622 points or 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 2.8 percent and the Nasdaq was down 3.2 percent.
The stocks were influenced by disappointing news about tech giants Amazon and Apple.
Amazon shares fell a day after founder Jeff Bezos said increased costs for protecting workers and delivery expenses chewed up much of the retailer’s profits over the first quarter. Apple didn’t give any estimates on its first-quarter earnings.
All three indexes finished Thursday with moderate losses, but the Dow and S&P 500 completed their best single-month performances since 1987. The Dow gained 13 percent for April and the S&P 11 percent. It was a dramatic rebound for the Dow, which lost 14 percent in March for its worst monthly performance since 2008.
