The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 250 points on Thursday morning, along with sharp declines in the Nasdaq and S&P 500, after weaker-than-expected earnings reports from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META). Super Micro Computer (SMCI) stock continued to fall following the resignation of Ernst & Young, the company's auditor.

Shares of crypto-friendly companies like Coinbase (COIN), MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Robinhood (HOOD) also fell after reporting earnings a day earlier.

Shortly after the market opened, the Dow fell 258 points, or 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 341 points, or 1.8%. The S&P 500 lost 1.1%.

Meta shares fell about 3% in Thursday morning trading, while Microsoft shares fell more than 5%.

Positive news on the economic front included a sharp decline in initial jobless claims in the U.S. to a five-month low, pointing to a robust labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 in the week ended Oct. 26, beating economists' expectations of 230,000 claims.

And inflation continues to cool as the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index – the Fed's preferred measure of inflation – posted a 2.1% year-over-year increase in September, compared to 2.3% in August, according to on Data published on Thursday shows. This inflation slowdown, which came close to the Fed's target of 2% annual inflation, was a hopeful sign for consumers and the Fed alike as it plans to further cut interest rates.

Investors will be watching Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) earnings after the closing bell.

What to expect from Apple earnings

Apple's (AAPL) fourth-quarter report on Thursday will be the first glimpse of sales since Apple unveiled its latest iPhones and new artificial intelligence features, known as Apple Intelligence, at its annual event in early September – and the Wall Street expects a strong quarter of annual growth.

Analysts expect Apple to post earnings per share of $1.60 for its fiscal fourth quarter, according to estimates from FactSet (FDS). Net income is expected to reach $24.24 billion, which would represent growth of more than 5% compared to the same period last year.

Apple had a strong year overall. Its shares are up about 25% year-to-date, narrowly outperforming the S&P 500 index.

What to expect from Amazon earnings

Amazon is expected to report its third-quarter results on Thursday after the company slightly missed expectations last quarter.

According to analyst estimates compiled by FactSet, the retail and cloud giant will report revenue of $157.3 billion for the quarter ending in September. Amazon is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.14. Last quarter, the company issued lower-than-expected third-quarter guidance, setting revenue expectations between $154 billion and $158.5 billion — or between 8% and 11% year-over-year growth.

According to FactSet, Amazon reported second-quarter revenue of $148 billion — up 10% from a year earlier, but still below expectations of $148.7 billion. However, the company reported second-quarter net income of $13.5 billion, above expectations of $11 billion.

Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud computing division, reported revenue of $26.3 billion, up 19% from a year earlier.

– Rocio Fabbro and Britney Nguyen contributed to this article.

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