NEW YORK (AP) — The downside of high expectations hit Wall Street Thursday, and Microsoft And Metaplatforms caused US stock indexes to fall despite posting strong summer profits.

The S&P 500 fell 1.9% for its worst day in eight weeks and fell further from his file set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 378 points, or 0.9%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.8% for a second straight loss after setting its last absolute record.

Microsoft reported stronger profit growth for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue also beat forecasts, but its stock still fell 6%, as investors and analysts looked for possible disappointments. Many focused on Microsoft’s estimate for future growth in its Azure cloud computing business, which fell short of some analysts’ expectations.

Amazon and Apple also helped drag the market lower, with Amazon falling 3.4% and Apple falling 2% before releasing their earnings reports after the day’s trading ended. They are the latest companies in the highly influential group of securities known as “The Magnificent Seven” to do it.

Earlier this month, Tesla And Alphabet launched the Magnificent Seven reports with results that investors found impressive enough to reward with higher stock prices.

The only remaining member, Nvidiawill report its results later in the earnings season, and its 4.8% drop is the heaviest weight in the market after Microsoft. Expectations are just as high for the microchip company after its shares soared more than 880% over the past two years.

Big Tech’s plunge on the last day of October erased the S&P 500’s gains for the month. The index fell 1% for its first month of decline in the last six months, although it hit an all-time high in the middle of it.

Such a major decision might have been expected after an unusually long and quiet period, according to BTIG’s Jonathan Krinsky. He noted that the S&P 500 failed to move 1% in one day in either direction, excluding rounding, for the longest period in nearly three years.

Still, Thursday wasn’t a complete disaster, thanks in part to cruise ships and cigarettes.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holding rose 6.3% after posting a higher profit than analysts expected for the last quarter. The cruise ship operator said it was seeing strong customer demand for all of its brands and itineraries, and it raised its full-year 2024 profit forecast.

Altria Group rose 7.8%, another of the S&P 500’s biggest gains after beating analysts’ profit expectations. Chief executive Billy Gifford, among other things, highlighted the resilience of its Marlboro brand and announced a cost-cutting initiative.

Oil and gas companies also rose after the price of a barrel of U.S. crude gained 0.9% to recoup some of its losses for the week and year so far. ConocoPhillips jumped 6.4%.

Overall, the S&P 500 fell 108.22 points to 5,705.45. The Dow Jones fell 378.08 to 41,736.46 and the Nasdaq composite fell 512.78 to 18,095.15.

In the bond market, Treasury yields fell slightly following a series of mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

One report said that a inflation measurement that the Federal Reserve likes to use slowed to 2.1% in September from 2.3%. That comes close to matching the Fed’s 2% target, although the underlying trends, after ignoring food and energy costs, have been a bit higher than economists expected.

A separate report said growth in workers’ wages and benefits slowed over the summer. This could put less pressure on future inflation. Meanwhile, a third report indicated fewer American workers applied for unemployment performances last week. This indicates that the number of layoffs remains relatively low across the country.

Treasury yields pivoted several times following the reports before falling. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.27% from 4.30% Wednesday evening. That’s still a sharp rise from the roughly 3.60% level it was at in the middle of last month.

Yields rose following a series of stronger-than-expected reports on the U.S. economy. Such data bolsters hopes that the economy can avoid a recession, especially now that the Fed is cutting interest rates to support the job market instead of keeping them high to quell high inflation. But this surprising resilience is also forcing traders to lower their expectations for how much the Fed will ultimately cut rates.

In foreign stock markets, indices fell across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.5%, one of the biggest losses after Trial launched in North Korea a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to be able to strike the American continent in a probable move intended to attract America’s attention before election day.

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AP Business writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed