Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2023. Portal/Brendan McDermid ACQUIRES LICENSE RIGHTS
Nov 17 (Portal) – The S&P 500 index rose slightly on Friday as investors digested recent gains, while comments from Federal Reserve officials clouded prospects about when the U.S. central bank might begin cutting interest rates.
Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said he believes the Fed is at or near the peak of rate hikes, but San Francisco Fed Chief Mary Daly and Boston Fed President Susan Collins emphasized that Need for further evidence of cooling inflation.
Adding pressure, shares of Applied Materials (AMAT.O) fell following its third-quarter report and news that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations that the semiconductor equipment maker violated export restrictions to China.
Some support was provided by the decline in the 10-year Treasury yield, which hit a two-month low during the session.
The S&P 500 (.SPX), Nasdaq (.IXIC) and Dow (.DJI) posted their third straight week of gains. For the S&P and the Dow, it was the longest weekly winning streak since July. For the Nasdaq, it would be the longest weekly rise since June.
“The biggest catalyst for stocks today is that we have hit a two-month low in Treasury yields,” said Robert Phipps, a principal at Per Stirling in Austin, Texas.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 2.14 points, or 0.01%, to 34,947.61, the S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 5.82 points, or 0.13%, to 4,514.06 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 11.81 points, or 0.08%, to 14,125.48.
“We have come a long way. We need to digest some of these moves and look for the next catalyst. The profits are behind us. The Fed is on hold and will do so in December. The stock market is looking for a forecast,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global in Philadelphia.
Looking for clues from the bond market, McIntyre expects November’s jobs and inflation data to be the next big catalyst.
While major indices had a subdued session, Per Stirling’s Phipps pointed to strength in more cyclical sectors.
“With tech stocks weak today, the S&P 500 is hiding its strength in other areas of the market,” he said, pointing to gains in the energy (.SPNY), industrials (.SPLRCI) and financials (.SPSY) sectors.
Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, energy was the biggest percentage gainer as oil prices settled more than 4%.
The communications services index (.SPLRCL) lost ground as megacap shares of Alphabet (GOOGL.O) fell along with Microsoft (MSFT.O).
Amazon.com (AMZN.O) gained ground. The online retailer said it would cut jobs at its Alexa voice assistant unit, citing changing business priorities and a greater focus on generative artificial intelligence.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index (.RUT) rallied and outperformed broader markets.
Retail stocks were in demand and Ross Stores (ROST.O) rallied after the company, which sells budget clothing and home products, raised its full-year profit forecast after beating third-quarter sales and profit expectations.
Shares of Gap (GPS.N) rose sharply as the clothing retailer reported better-than-expected third-quarter results due to improving sales at Old Navy and declining delivery costs.
Shares of ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT.N) slumped as the electric vehicle charging network provider cut estimates for third-quarter revenue. Rick Wilmer was also named CEO.
Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Edited by Maju Samuel, Pooja Desai and David Gregorio
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Originally posted 2023-11-17 21:22:18.