Markets open mixed as UnitedHealth drags the Dow and tech tries to recover

Catherine Baab

Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 7:05 AM 3 min read

U.S. stocks opened unevenly Thursday as Wall Street digested fresh earnings, continuing tension over chips, and fallout from a sharp selloff the day before.

The S&P 500 ticked up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.13% — a modest bounce after its 3% plunge on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, dropped more than 1%, pulled lower by a staggering 20% drop in UnitedHealth (UNH) stock.

The healthcare giant slashed its 2025 profit forecast and missed earnings expectations, spooking investors and weighing heavily on the price-weighted Dow.

Nvidia also remained under pressure, down more than 1% in early trading, extending losses after its $5.5 billion charge related to new chip export restrictions to China. The broader tech sector continues to grapple with geopolitical fallout, regulatory uncertainty, and earnings jitters. The Nasdaq remains down about 15% year to date.

As the Trump administration sought to blame Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for tariff-related market fallout, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates again Thursday, lowering its benchmark rate to 2.25% — its seventh cut in the past year.

ECB President Christine Lagarde pointed to rising global trade tensions, particularly U.S. tariffs, as a major drag on euro-area growth. “Anybody in this room who thinks that we are in a shock-free world, would I suggest maybe raise their hands or have their head examined either way,” she said. “We are not in a shock-free world, that’s for sure.”

Alongside UnitedHealth, Thursday’s earnings slate also includes reports from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Netflix (NFLX), American Express (AXP), and homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI).

Wall Street observers will leaf through a fresh round of corporate results as they continue to navigate what increasingly feels like a geopolitical storm without a forecast.

But Wednesday’s sell-off suggests that any sense of stability or that things are business as usual is eroding. As the market moved toward close yesterday, the major indexes posted their steepest declines in weeks. The S&P 500 fell 2.2%, the Dow dropped more than 700 points, and the Nasdaq plunged over 3%. In individual names, Apple (AAPL) fell 3.9%, Tesla (TSLA) dropped nearly 5%, and Nvidia (NVDA) plunged almost 7%.

The drop came despite a stronger-than-expected March retail sales report and earnings beats from several blue-chip names, further underscoring just how much markets are being driven by abrupt policy shifts rather than fundamentals. It may all sound abstract — until you consider that Apple, Nvidia, and their peers are among the most widely held stocks in U.S. retirement funds. If you have a 401(k), odds are good you’re along for the ride.