Stocks finished mixed Friday amid falling tech stocks and reports of an Israeli missile strike on Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 211 points, or 0.56%, to 37,986.40, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.88% to 4,967.23, falling below the 5,000 level, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.05% to 15,282.01.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq marked their sixth straight losing day.
Big tech names such as Netflix, Nvidia and Super Micro Computer all finished in the red.
For the week, the S&P 500 was down about 3%, while the Nasdaq was down 5.5% and the Dow edged up 0.01%.
"With markets – by most technical metrics – 'oversold' and due for a bounce, next week’s tech earnings reports coupled with a key inflation report could provide the catalysts markets need for a rally," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.
As the S&P 500 valuation remains over 20 times forward earnings, Krosby said that investors are expecting not just strong results but strong guidance, "and any disappointment from the mega-tech names reporting could push this week’s oversold market deeper into oversold territory."
Updated at 12:51 PM EDT
Below 5,000
Treasury yields are inching higher into the afternoon session, with 10-year notes rising to 4.615% and 2-year notes pegged at 4.975%, and helping to hold down gains on Wall Street over the final hours of a difficult trading week.
The S&P 500 was last marked 36 points, or 0.75% lower on the day, and now firmly below the 5,000 point mark for the first time since late February, and the rate-sensitive Nasdaq off 260 points, or 1.67%.
Earlier this week, less than 10% of the stocks in the S&P 500 were above their 20-day MA. That is wash out territory.
— Ryan Detrick, CMT (@RyanDetrick) April 19, 2024
That was the lowest level since Oct of last year, but even more interesting is price made new lows, but stocks above their 20-day MA actually improved. pic.twitter.com/4XrwsE89Iw
Updated at 10:57 AM EDT
Mixed success
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told an event in his home state Friday that while he remains confident the central bank will return inflation to its preferred 2% target, the "golden path" of restrictive rates with robust jobs growth will prove more difficult this year.
However, he would also not dismiss the chances of another rate hike, should inflation pressure intensify, saying that "I don't think anything is not on the table".
"At the end of the day, we will get inflation back to target<" Goolsbee said. "I always say that the first rule for data dogs is that when you are uncertain, keep sniffing. Right now, it makes sense to wait and get more clarity before moving."
Goolsbee is participating in a moderated question-and-answer session at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Annual Conference.
— Jimmy_Turbo (@Jimmy__Turbo) April 19, 2024
This session is scheduled for 45 minutes. More information can be found here: https://t.co/QQ69w2ZcLX
Updated at 9:37 AM EDT
Muted open
Risk appetite remains muted in early trading, with the S&P 500 opening 3 points, or 0.03% lower and the Dow rising 90 points. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, slipped 52 points, or 0.33%, thanks in part to a big downside move for Netflix (NFLX) .
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (April 19, 2024)$SPY -0.06% 🟥$QQQ -0.38% 🟥$DJI +0.19% 🟩$IWM +0.07% 🟩 pic.twitter.com/P15IQqLwL5
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) April 19, 2024
Updated at 8:42 AM EDT
Turning Green
S&P 500 futures are moving into positive territory heading into the opening bell, with contracts indicating a modest 4 point gain and those linked to the Dow suggesting a 30 point advance.
There's no real catalyst for the move as yet, although comments from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that the U.S. is "committed to de-escalating” the current Israel-Iran tensions, as well as the muted statements from Tehran and Jerusalem, have soothed investor sentiment.
Antony Blinken says the focus of the US and G-7 is on de-escalating tensions in the Middle East
— Bloomberg (@business) April 19, 2024
Blinken wouldn’t confirm whether the US received prior notice of the Israel strike on Iran, but says America was not involved in any offensive operations https://t.co/JcPMsjGvsf pic.twitter.com/WsYcAA9zFG
Updated at 8:25 AM EDT
Cautiously lower
Global oil prices are holding near session lows Friday, with Brent having declined from its earlier $90 peak, as investors weigh the muted response to Israel's reported missile attack on Iran.
Brent futures contacts for June delivery, the global pricing benchmark, were last trading 45 cents lower on the session at $86.66 per barrel.
WTI contacts for May delivery, which are tightly-linked to U.S. gasoline prices, slipped 83 cents to $81.90 per barrel, after hitting $85 a barrel earlier in the overnight session.
Related: Oil slides as Israel, Iran downplay attacks, but markets remain on edge
Updated at 7:12 AM EDT
Price Makers
Procter & Gamble (PG) shares edged lower in early trading after the consumer brands group posted a mixed set of first quarter earnings while boosting its full-year profit forecast.
P&G said it sees core earnings rising by between 10% and 11% this year, up from a prior forecast of between 8% and 9%, as it continues to raise prices for its key consumer brands amid what it called "resilient" demand in the U.S. and Europe.
For the three months ending in March, P&G posted earnings of $1.52 per share, topping forecasts by 11 cents, with sale of $20.2 billion, just shy of the Street's $20.41 billion estimate.
Stock Market Today
Israel's limited attack, however, appears to have targeted military installations south of Tehran and is unlikely, at least for the moment, to trigger a response from the Iranian government.
Officials on both sides, in fact, played-down the strikes, with Israel not claiming formal responsibility and Iran dismissing them as a failed effort by "infiltrators" that caused limited damage.
The muted tone eased global market tensions, which initially saw oil prices surge more past the $90 per barrel market before retreating to around $87.02 per barrel heading into the New York trading session.
"The attack, but also the reaction across markets, shows that geopolitical risks are real and should be taken seriously by all investors," Saxo Bank strategists wrote. "A further escalation between Israel and Iran could push energy prices higher and deal blow to economic growth and equity risk sentiment."
Stocks in Asia suffered heavy losses, with the MSCI ex-Japan index falling 1.61% and Japan's Nikkei 225 slumping 2.66%, but markets steadied in European trading, with the Stoxx 600 down just 0.39% in early Frankfurt dealing.
On Wall Street, U.S. Treasury bond yields eased from their recent multi-month highs, with 10-year notes slipping to 4.584% and 2-year notes pegged at 4.958%, as investors parked cash in save-haven assets while assessing the impact of the Iran-Israeli conflict.
Spot gold prices held near the $2,400 mark in overnight dealing, and were last pegged at $2,383.79 per ounce, around $40 shy of the all-time peak recorded on April 12.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currency peers, was marked 0.12% lower at 106.024, suggesting improving risk appetite heading into the Friday session and the start of Passover observances on Monday.
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The market's key volatility gauge, however, remains elevated, with the VIX index trading at a five-month high of $19.45, a level that suggests traders expect daily swings for the S&P 500 of around 61 points over the next month.
Stock futures, meanwhile, are indicating a firmly lower open for U.S. markets, with contacts tied to the S&P 500 suggesting a 21 point decline and those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicating a 128 point pullback.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 111 points lower, with Netflix (NFLX) set to slide more than 5.5% following a muted near-term revenue outlook that clouded a better-than-expected first quarter earnings report.
Tesla (TSLA) shares were also back in the red, falling 1.7% in pre-market dealing to pull the stock to the lowest levels in more than a year.
Related: Analyst overhauls Tesla price target amid major strategy shift
Paramount Global (PARA) shares, meanwhile, surged more than 10.2% to $12.09 each following a Reuters report that suggested private equity group Apollo Global Management is mulling a bid for the group alongside Sony Pictures Entertainment.
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