© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The front facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York, U.S., February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
By Devik Jain
(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes fell on Friday following a two-day rally, weighed down by technology and healthcare shares, while a dour sales forecast from Nike (NYSE:NKE) further dampened sentiment.
The sportswear maker’s shares dropped 6.7% to weigh the most on the Dow and the S&P 500 after it also warned of delays during the holiday shopping season, blaming a supply chain crunch.
Shares of footwear retailer Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) shed 5.7%.
“There is a real risk that companies are going to miss earnings expectations despite there being strong demand for their products and services,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“The cost pressures are so clear that widespread downgrades to profit margins seem inevitable in the coming months.”
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors declined.
Mega-cap growth names Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), drugmakers Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Inc and chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Corp slid between 0.8% and 2.5%.
However, gains in economy-sensitive energy, financials and industrials shares limited losses on the blue-chip Dow and the benchmark S&P 500.
The S&P energy sector has jumped nearly 4.8% so far this week, most among all the major sectors.
The S&P 500 value index is up nearly 0.7% this week, outperforming its tech-heavy growth counterpart and on track to break a three-week losing streak.
Wall Street’s main indexes have been roiled this month by fears of a sooner-than-expected tapering by the Federal Reserve and the crisis at Evergrande, which on Thursday missed an interest payment deadline and has entered a 30-day grace period.
The benchmark S&P 500 is now on course to snap a seven-month gaining streak.
On the week, however, the index was nearly flat, with investors assessing Fed’s signals on reducing its monthly bond purchases as soon as November and looking for progress on President Joe Biden’s spending and budget bills.
“It’s not unusual for Friday’s action after two consecutive strong moves to the upside, to see modest pullback and repositioning,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.
“Concerns about Washington DC has moved to the forefront – will we be able to keep the government running, will we raise the debt ceiling and get the infrastructure bill passed, will there be new taxes – that’s likely going to dominate investors’ psychology coming into the next week.
At 11:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27.71 points, or 0.08%, at 34,737.11, the S&P 500 was down 2.88 points, or 0.06%, at 4,446.10, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 60.08 points, or 0.40%, at 14,992.16.
Shares of cryptocurrency-related firms Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global, MicroStrategy Inc, Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT) and Marathon Patent Group tumbled between 1.8% and 5.1% after China’s central bank put a ban on crypto trading and mining.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.45-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 16 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 54 new highs and 47 new lows.
Source: Investing.com
