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U.S. stocks ended lower today due to investors’ decrease in confidence. According to the Conference Board, its consumer confidence index fell more sharply than expected to 97.7 in April from 103.3 in March. The Dow ended down 91.34 points, to close at 110,151.13. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 23.34 points, to close at 1,927.44. The S&P also ended down 10.36 points, to close at 1,151.74.

Amazon.Com (AMZN) reported that it earned $78 million, or 18 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $111 million, or 26 cents a share last year. After the results were released, Amazon’s shares fell more than 5 percent to $30.95 in late trading. However, Amazon’s international sales grew faster than the company’s North American business.

U.S. new home sales unexpectedly increased to the highest level ever in March. Purchases rose 12.2 percent to a 1.431 million annual rate after February sales that were faster than the government first estimated. Besides, the percentage of consumers expecting to buy a home in the next six months rose to 3.9 percent this month from 3.8 percent, which shows a higher-than-average 3.7 percent last year.

DuPont Co., the second U.S. chemicals manufacturer announced that its net income rose to $967 million, or 96 cents per share, from 668 million, or 66 cents last year. However, these results were lower than analysts’ expectations of $1.01 per share. DuPont lost $1.55 to $47.03, which represented a 3.2 percent decline. It was the steepest decrease in the Dow Average.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter