Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 26, 2023 in New York City, USA.Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid/File Photo Obtaining license rights
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday as investors digested a busy week of mixed results and economic data that appeared to support a “higher long-term interest rate” scenario. It lost momentum as the deal progressed.
The Nasdaq rose, weighed heavily by tech and tech-related momentum stocks such as Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O), while the benchmark S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average The average has stalled. .
All three indexes maintain their weekly downward trend.
“This is a divergent market,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Conn.
“Interest in mega-cap stocks has gradually increased following Amazon’s (earnings) report, which has given some investors confidence and led them to actively buy them.”
The Commerce Department’s long-awaited Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report shows that while consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy, showed a big upside surprise, inflation gradually subsided as expected and the Federal Reserve’s annual It showed that we are getting closer to the 2% target. .
“The price index is down year-on-year, which is good. Consumer spending remains high,” Pavlik added. “Never bet against American consumers.”
The data did little to significantly sway market expectations that the Fed would keep its key interest rate unchanged at its November policy meeting.
Market participants are nearing the end of a busy earnings week, with nearly one-third of S&P 500 companies reporting third-quarter results.
As of Friday, the reporting season has effectively reached its halfway point, with 245 companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 78% delivered returns above consensus.
Analysts now expect S&P’s annual gross profit growth to be 4.3%, a significant improvement from the 1.6% growth at the beginning of the month.
Amazon.com (AMZN.O) soared 6.4% after the e-commerce giant reported growth in its cloud business is stabilizing and predicted higher revenue during the holiday season.
Intel (INTC.O) soared 9.2% after the chip maker’s quarterly report beat consensus, lifting the overall sector.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index (.SOX) rose 1.0%.
As of 2:22 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was down 356.9 points, or 1.09%, at $32,427.4, and the S&P 500 Index (.SPX). fell 25.51 points (0.62%) to $4,111.72, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) added 16.94 points (0.13%) to $12,612.54.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, Energy (.SPNY) had the steepest decline. The only stocks that rose were consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and tech stocks (.SPLRCT).
Chevron (CVX.N) fell 5.9% after reporting a decline in third-quarter profit.
Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) fell 1.6%, a reversal of earlier gains, after the company posted a 54% decline in profits from a year ago.
Ford Motor Co. (FN) fell 11.8% as it withdrew its full-year forecast, citing “uncertainty” over the pending ratification of the United Auto Workers union, and warned that pressure on electric vehicles would continue.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing issues on the New York Stock Exchange by a 2.70-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.97-to-1 ratio favored declining stocks.
The S&P 500 set no new 52-week highs and no new 61-week lows. The Nasdaq Composite recorded 10 new highs and 408 new lows.
Report by Stephen Culp. Additional reporting by his Ankika Biswas, Shashwat Chauhan and Sruthi Shankar in Bangalore.Editing: Richard Chan
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