Led by Amazon, the stock market starts May cool after amazing April gains

Stocks fell sharply Friday as shares of Amazon and Apple led the major indexes lower on the month’s first day of trading following their first-quarter results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 480 points, about 2%, as Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth each fell more than 3%. The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% with consumer discretionary and real estate investment trusts leading the broad market index down. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.2% as a host of big-tech names fell in morning trading.

Apple reported quarterly earnings that topped analyst expectations, but its revenue growth remained flat on a year-over-year basis. Also, the company did not offer guidance for the quarter ending in June amid uncertainty over the coronavirus outbreak. The tech giant’s stock traded more than 1.3% lower.

Fellow tech titan Amazon saw its shares tumble 4.8% after announcing plans to spend all its second-quarter profits on its coronavirus response. The e-commerce behemoth also posted a first-quarter profit that missed analyst expectations.

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