Advertisement
Advertisement

Tech Sector Weakness Drives S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite Lower For Week

By:
James Hyerczyk
Updated: Jul 30, 2017, 00:00 UTC

U.S. stock equity futures closed mixed for a second day on Friday. The Dow was the sole winner of the day, posting intraday and closing highs. The NASDAQ

U.S. Stock Market

U.S. stock equity futures closed mixed for a second day on Friday. The Dow was the sole winner of the day, posting intraday and closing highs. The NASDAQ Composite ended lower with tech giants Facebook, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet a drag on the index. The S&P 500 Index also eased, driven lower by the weak Consumer Staples sector, but supported by the Energy sector.

In the cash market, the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21830.31, up 33.76 or +0.15%. The technology-based NASDAQ Composite settled at 6374.38, down 7.81 or -0.12% and the benchmark S&P 500 Index ended the session at 2472.10, down 3.32 or -0.13%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average
Daily September E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average

The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were under pressure early in the session, led by a drop in Amazon.com. The on-line retail giant fell as much as 4.3 percent on the back of much weaker-than-expected quarterly results. Sales came in above expectations, but second-quarterly earnings were below expectations, $0.40 vs the $1.42 a share estimate.

The major indexes also posted mixed weekly results, with the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Composite Index finishing slightly lower while the Dow rose 1 percent during the time period.

S&P 500 Index
Daily September E-mini S&P 500 Index

Economic News

In economic news, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, the second-quarter Gross Domestic Product grew at an annualized rate of 2.6 percent, matching pre-report estimates.

The Employment Cost Index came in at 0.5%, below the 0.6% estimate and 0.8% previous read. A separate report showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, increased at a rate of 0.9 percent.

Revised University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment was 93.4, slightly above the 93.2 estimate and 93.1 previous read. This indicates that Americans appear the most optimistic about the current economic situation in the U.S. than they have in 12 years.

In other news, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Friday that the Federal Reserve’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet is not doing a lot to boost the U.S. economy at this time and trimming it gradually is the right thing to do.

“I think the big, big balance sheet isn’t doing a lot to boost the economy right now, but I do think there are costs in terms of public confidence in the Federal Reserve,” Kashkari told a business group in Woodbury, Minnesota.

“I have been in favor of us slowly bringing that balance sheet back down to a more normal size even though I’m still concerned about inflation,” he said. “We can focus on inflation with our short-term interest rate.”

About the Author

James is a Florida-based technical analyst, market researcher, educator and trader with 35+ years of experience. He is an expert in the area of patterns, price and time analysis as it applies to futures, Forex, and stocks.

Did you find this article useful?

Advertisement