NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dow and S&P 500 ended modestly lower on Friday, dragging down losses in blue-chip technology, making Intel and IBM reliable after their quarterly results, as hopes for a full economic reopening in the have decreased in the coming months.
IBM Corp fell 9.91% and was the biggest draw on the Dow Jones industrial average after missing quarterly revenue estimates, hit by a rare decline in sales in its software unit.
Intel Corp. declined 9.29% as new CEO Pat Gelsinger’s post-earnings comments point to the lack of a strong embrace of outsourcing.
However, losses in the technology sector are offset by gains from Microsoft Corp. Apple Inc., which has curbed the declines in major U.S. stock indices and pushed the Nasdaq up slightly.
Energy and finance performed worst on Friday among the 11 S&P sectors, while the defense and real estate groups advanced.
“Any delay or setback in the reopening theme is likely to be a headwind for the energy sector,” said Andrew Mies, chief investment officer at Meridien 6 in Wichita, Kansas.
“(But) the market is telling you that its confidence in the cyclics is currently declining.”
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq suffered some losses shortly after the opening bell, as data show that U.S. manufacturing activity rose surprisingly to its highest level in more than 13-1 / 2 years in early January, in contrast to ‘ a disappointing result in the purchasing manager. data in Europe earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points, or 0.57%, to 30,996.98, the S&P 500 lost 11.6 points, or 0.30%, to 3,841.47, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 12.15 points, or 0.09%, added to 13,543.06.
The US stock market was 12.79 billion shares, compared to the average of 12.68 billion for the full session over the past 20 trading days.
Despite the weakness, the three major indices made weekly gains, with the technology Nasdaq performing for its best weekly performance since November 6, while investors in Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc performed in anticipation of their earnings reports in coming weeks.
For the week, the S&P rose 1.94%, the Dow 0.59% and the Nasdaq unofficially rose 4.19%.
As stock valuations near the levels have been approaching since the Dotcom era, some market participants said new COVID-19 variants and hiccups in the rollout of vaccines pose short-term risks.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that the US economic crisis is deepening and that the government must now take big steps to help struggling Americans.
“The absolute assurance that investors felt a week ago … some of it is starting to disappear from the market.” Mies added about the decline in the virus and the reopening of the economy.
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Janet Yellen as the first female Treasury Secretary, indicating that she would easily get the full approval of the Senate.
Declining issues surpassed the number on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.00 to 1; on Nasdaq, a 1.53-to-1 preference is favored.
The S&P 500 reached 16 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 189 new highs and 7 new lows.
Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Additional reporting by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Anil D’Silva and Diane Craft