Nasdaq and S&P sink amid rate hike fears

Nasdaq and S&P sink amid rate hike fears

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell on Friday and posted their second straight weekly losses, as hotter-than-expected US producer costs knowledge pushed Treasury yields greater and sank rate-sensitive megacap development shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed greater for the day and ended the week up 0.6 per cent. It was the primary time in 2023 that the Nasdaq fell for 2 straight weeks. The S&P 500 ended the week down 0.3 per cent, with the Nasdaq 1.9 per cent decrease.

The US authorities reported that the producer value index climbed 0.8 per cent within the 12 months resulting in July, up from a 0.2 per cent rise within the earlier month, as prices of providers elevated. Economists polled by Refinitiv had anticipated a 0.7 per cent achieve.

Though merchants broadly count on the Federal Reserve to chorus from tightening credit score circumstances for the remainder of the yr, bets for no fee hike in September slipped to 88.5 per cent from 90 per cent earlier than the info landed.

“We’ve seen some material news and data in recent days but the market has chosen to trade sideways, which tells us that the market had priced in everything and has not been pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised,” mentioned Jason Betz, personal wealth adviser at Ameriprise Financial.

Yield on the two-year US Treasury notice, that strikes according to near-term rate of interest expectations, climbed to 4.88 per cent.

This transfer weighed on huge tech names, as excessive rates of interest might sluggish the economic system and dent the flexibility of those companies to attain the expansion projections which have pushed them to premium valuations. Higher charges may also make interest-bearing bonds a pretty different to shares for some risk-averse buyers.

Tesla, Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft closed down between 0.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent.

A 3.6 per cent fall in Nvidia weighed on the semiconductor index, which was 2.3 per cent decrease. It was the fourth straight decline and its eighth loss in 9 classes for the semis index, and its 5 per cent weekly decline was its worst efficiency since early April.

Megacap development and expertise shares have led outsized positive aspects this yr within the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 . But after a five-month stretch of advances, August has to this point been marked by a extra cautious method from buyers.

“Time will tell if we are correct on this, but with the run that tech has had, it’s hard not to want to do a bit of profit-taking,” mentioned Ameriprise’s Betz.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 105.25 factors, or 0.3 per cent, to 35,281.4, the S&P 500 misplaced 4.78 factors, or 0.11 per cent, to 4,464.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 76.18 factors, or 0.56 per cent, to 13,644.85.

Amid the most important S&P sectors, healthcare and vitality sectors superior. Both have been among the many worst performing industries this yr, though vitality matched its strongest run this yr by closing greater for the seventh straight session.

The vitality sector’s 1.6 per cent improve was aided by crude costs rising on forecasts for tightening provides from the International Energy Agency.

Occidental Petroleum Corp was among the many largest gainers, up 3.3 per cent, after one in all its models secured a grant from the US authorities to assist its carbon seize ambitions.

Among different movers, News Corp rose 4.6 per cent after the Rupert Murdoch-owned media conglomerate beat quarterly revenue estimates, due to its cost-cutting efforts.

US-listed shares of Chinese corporations Alibaba and JD.com fell 3.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively, as Beijing’s newest stimulus measures upset buyers, whereas recent knowledge confirmed that the nation’s post-pandemic restoration was dropping steam.

Volume on US exchanges was 10.19 billion shares, in contrast with the ten.93 billion common for the total session over the past 20 buying and selling days.

The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 169 new lows.

Source: www.perthnow.com.au