Markets mixed as Facebook plunges

Markets were mixed on Thursday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent and the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.9 percent.

Facebook led the falls in the US, plunging 19 percent after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and slowing user growth and providing weak guidance. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.0 percent.

In Europe, the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged.

“I’m not surprised to see a decline like this in Facebook, especially since even with this drop its still up year-over-year,” said Brian Milligan, portfolio manager of the Ave Maria Growth Fund. “Beyond the FAANGs, things look pretty good right now, not withstanding the trade rhetoric, which seems to change every hour.”

JP Morgan Private Bank's head of thematic equity solutions Stephen Parker thinks a new high is possible for the S&P 500.

“I do think we break out to new records,” Parker told CNBC on Wednesday. “To us, it’s all about earnings.”