S&P 500; US Indexes Fundamental Daily Forecast – Dow, S&P 500 Index End Eight-Week Winning Streaks

The major U.S. equity indexes finished mixed on Friday, with two out of three closing lower. The Dow and the S&P 500 Index ended eight-week winning streaks, their longest since 2013; the NASDAQ Composite closed lower for the first week in six.

In the cash market, the benchmark S&P 500 Index settled at 2582.30, down 2.32 or -0.09%. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23422.21, down 39.73 or -0.17% and the tech-based NASDAQ Composite finished at 6750.56, up 0.51 or +0.01%.

With earnings season winding down this week, investor were primarily focused on U.S. tax reform and the direction of interest rates. Pressuring the markets the most were concerns that U.S. tax reform would be pushed into 2019. Investors also reacted to a pullback in high-yield bonds.

Individually, Intel and Merck weighed the most on the Dow, but a 3-percent gain in Disney shares helped limit the losses. In the S&P 500, the weak sectors were health care and energy.

Although the NASDAQ Composite finished higher on Friday, it was dragged lower for the week by declines in Facebook, Netflix and Alphabet, Google’s parent.

Technically, the December E-mini S&P 500 Index posted an inside move before settling lower. The chart pattern suggests investor indecision and impending volatility. December E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also remained inside the previous day’s wide range before ending the session at its lowest level in three weeks.

There was a divergence between the NASDAQ Composite cash index and the December E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index. The NASDAQ Composite finished the week lower while the futures contract ended the week higher.