DJIA down 347.22 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 19 Jul - US shares were trading lower at midday as investors assessed fallout from worldwide IT outages that impacted industry worldwide.

The outages, caused by an update patch from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, sparked systems blackouts across the globe in a range of businesses using Microsoft systems.

CrowdStrike and Microsoft shares fell sharply as disruption spread before losses eased after the cyber firm said it had identified the problem and a had deployed a fix.

The issue threatened to worsen the recent run on technology stocks after Wall Street closed lower yesterday as the pullback in the tech sector continued.

On a quiet day for data, investors today will be digesting the latest round of earnings from the likes of American Express, Travelers and Fifth Third.

They will also be keeping a close eye on political developments as expectations rise that President Joe Biden will accept he may have to leave the race for the Whitehouse in November.

Comments from a series of Federal Reserve officials scheduled to attend conferences later today will also come under the spotlight for possible updates on when the first interest rate cut may come. At 1620 GMT, the Dow Jones was losing 347.22 points, or 0.85%, at 40,317.80 points.

The S&P 500 was 18.50 points, or 0.33%, lower at 5,526.09 points.

The Nasdaq was down 57.00 points, or 0.32%, at 17,814.25 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 19-07-24 17:23:31 (0430) 5 NNNN