Dow falls 225 points amid record GDP decline, more unemployment claims

July 30 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell Thursday following a record drop in U.S. economic activity and more new unemployment claims amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dow closed the day down 225.92 points, or 0.85%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.38% amid the poor economic figures, while a strong performance by tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq Composite up 0.43%.

The Commerce Department issued its quarterly report Thursday, showing U.S. gross domestic product contracted about 33%, the worst ever decline in the United States for the April-June period, largely due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department announced that 1,434,000 new unemployment claims were filed at the end of last week, an increase of 12,000 filings, the second consecutive week of increases.

Following Thursday's data, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to around 0.54%. Bank stocks declined as a result as Citigroup dropped 3.14%, JPMorgan Chase declined 2.69%, Bank of America fell 1.7% and Goldman Sachs slid 1.43%.

Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google's parent company, Alphabet, were all set to report earnings after the bell and each rose during trading on Thursday.

Apple stock increased by 1.21%, Alphabet gained 0.98%, Amazon grew 0.6% and Facebook grew 0.52%.

The gains also came as the leaders of the four companies testified before Congress on Wednesday, facing accusations that they have "wielded their power in disruptive, harmful ways."