Stocks Tumbled on Weak Results

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, led by losses in the technology and biotechnology sectors, as traders worried about a string of top-line earnings misses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 195.01 points, or 1.08%, to 17,840.52, leaving it with a gain of 0.4% over the month. The S&P 500 lost 21.34 points, or 1.01%, to 2,085.51, but recorded a 0.9% gain over the month. The Nasdaq Composite lost 82.22 points, or 1.64%, to 4,941.42 and gained 0.8% in April.

LinkedIn (LNKD) released lowered guidance for the year. The company reported earnings per share of 57 cents on revenue of $638 million for the first quarter of 2015 on Thursday. For the second quarter LinkedIn projected revenue of $670 million to $675 million and adjusted earnings per share of 28 cents.

Yelp missed on first-quarter earnings and revenue. The business-review site reported adjusted earnings per share of 10 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 16 cents. The company also missed on revenue, with sales of $118 million coming in below the FactSet consensus of $120 million.

Oil rounded out its best monthly gain in six years on Thursday, with the two global benchmarks for crude rising between 20 and 25 percent in April, helped by a weaker dollar and bets that a supply glut would ease. Brent (LCOc1) settled up 85 cents at $66.69 a barrel, after reaching a 2015 peak of $66.93. It rose 21 percent for April.