Updated ay 4:32 PM EDT by Rob Lenihan
Stocks ended mixed Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing over the 40,000 mark for the first time and racking up its eighth straight winning day.
The Dow finished up 134 points, or 0.34%, to end at 40,003.59, while the S&P 500 gained 0.12% to 5,303.27 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.07% to 16,685.97.
Walmart and Caterpillar led the Dow's advance.
On Thursday, the Dow reached an intraday high of 40,051.05 before pulling back to end the day down 0.1%.
For the week, the Dow rose 1.2% to notch its fifth straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed 1.5% and 2.1% week to date, cinching their longest winning streak since February, CNBC reported.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are now each up more than 11% in 2024, while the Dow has climbed more than 6% this year.
Updated at 11:56 AM EDT
Powell Covid positive
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday May 16, the central bank said in a statement, and is working from home at the present time.
He will, however, deliver pre-recorded remarks to the Georgetown University commencement ceremony, which is scheduled for Sunday May 19.
"Chair Powell tested positive for COVID-19 late yesterday and is experiencing symptoms," the Fed said. "Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, he is staying away from others and working at home."
Are we still doing this?
— Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) May 17, 2024
* FED SAYS POWELL TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 ON THURSDAY
* EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS, WORKING FROM HOME AND STAYING AWAY FROM OTHERS -- FED SPOKESPERSON
* FED: POWELL WILL DELIVER PRERECORDED SPEECH AT GEORGETOWN LAW
Updated at 11:01 AM EDT
Back to bonds?
Bank of America's weekly "Flow Show" report noted another big move into bond funds, with around $11.7 billion finding it way into fixed income portfolios and a rally in Treasuries tied to softer-than-expected inflation data.
The report also noted that investors are starting to see 30-year bonds, one of the worst-performing post-pandemic assets, as a key hedge against weaker U.S. growth prospects over the second half of the year.
Benchmark 30-year bond yields were last marked at 4.640% in mid-morning trading, with 10-year notes edging higher at 4.410%.
Updated at 10:05 AM EDT
(Misleading) indicators?
The Conference Board's index of leading economic indictors turned lower in April, falling 0.6 and missing Wall Street's forecast of a 0.3% decline, amid what it called a 'deterioration in consumers’ outlook on business conditions."
That said, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow forecasting tool, a real-time tracker of economic growth, suggests a current quarter growth rate of 3.6% in it latest update, which was published on May 16.
"Elevated inflation, high interest rates, rising household debt, and depleted pandemic savings are all expected to continue weighing on the US economy in 2024," the Conference Board said. "As a result, we project that real GDP growth will slow to under 1 percent over the Q2 to Q3 2024 period.”
Elevated #inflation, high #InterestRates, rising household #debt, and depleted pandemic #savings are all expected to continue weighing on the US #economy in 2024.
— The Conference Board (@Conferenceboard) May 17, 2024
As a result, we project real #GDP growth will slow to under 1% in Q2 to Q3.
🔗Report: https://t.co/ieclJImRoc
Updated at 9:43 AM EDT
Muted open
The S&P 500 was marked 3 points, or 0.06% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq up 14 points and the Dow rising 10 points.
Treasury yields were also back on the rise, with 10-year notes hitting 4.408% and 2-year notes marked at 4.801% following a series of hawkish comments from yesterday's parade of Fed speakers.
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (May 17, 2024)$SPY +0.08% 🟩$QQQ +0.04% 🟩$DJI +0.11% 🟩$IWM +0.13% 🟩 pic.twitter.com/JNxynDsN1N
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) May 17, 2024
Updated at 8:00 AM EDT
GameStop shopping
GameStop GME filed plans for a new equity capital raising with the SEC Friday, while also posting preliminary first quarter earnings that suggest a big decline in revenues and a net loss of as much as $37 million.
GameStop shares, which have surged more than 168% over the past month, were marked 23% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $21.32 each.
GameStop Announces First Quarter Preliminary Results $GME #GME
— Frank's Place (@Franks_Place_) May 17, 2024
Net sales in the range of $0.872B to $0.892B compared to $1.237B
Net loss expected to be in range of $27-$37M compared to a net loss of $50.5M
Cash $1.073-$1.093B compared to $1.310B last year pic.twitter.com/WxRrTgi2ce
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended modestly lower last night, after touching records earlier in the session, as investors took profits from the market's recent gains and digested a series of hawkish comments on rate hikes from a host of Federal Reserve officials.
"One data point is not a trend and one change does not determine the next three months," Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic told an event in Washington in reference to the softer-than-expected April inflation report from earlier in the week.
Traders made modest adjustments to bets on a September rate cut, paring the overall odds of a September move to around 69%, according to CME Group FedWatch data, while selling Treasury bonds.
BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty
Benchmark 10-year notes were marked 3 basis points higher in the overnight session at 4.389% while 2-year notes nudged 2 basis points higher to 4.786%.
The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, added 0.27% against its major global peers to trade at 104.739 heading into the start of the New York session.
On Wall Street, stocks are priced for a muted open, but are still on pace for a fourth straight weekly advance, powered by interest-rate-cut hopes and stronger-than-expected earnings forecasts.
Related: Housing has a problem bigger than interest rates
Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 11.05% for the year, suggest a 2-point opening-bell dip for the benchmark, with the Nasdaq priced for a 20 point opening bell gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is on a five-week win streak and topped the 40,000 point mark for the first time last night, is set for a modest 10-point pullback.
Stocks on the move include semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) , which slipped 1% in premarket trading after a muted revenue forecast clouded its second quarter earnings beat.
Videogame maker Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) , meanwhile, fell 2.2% after planning the release of its next blockbuster, "Grand Theft Auto VI," for fall 2025. That's just outside the end of its current fiscal year, which ends next March.
Reddit (RDDT) shares, on the other side, surged 10.2% after the newly listed social-media website unveiled a new content sharing deal with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analyst unveils new Nike price target ahead of big summer for sports
- Analysts weigh in on Google-parent Alphabet’s stock after cloud event
- Analysts revamp Disney stock price target after proxy fight
In overseas markets, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.38% lower in London while the region-wide Stoxx 600 benchmark fell 0.33% in Frankfurt.
Overnight in Asia, stocks in China got a boost from a new drive from Beijing to support the domestic property market, although the MSCI ex-Japan index was marked 0.14% lower into the close of trading.
A modestly firmer yen, meanwhile, as well as a pullback in tech stocks kept the Nikkei 225 in the red, with the index closing 0.34% lower at 38,787.83 points.
Related: Single Best Trade: Wall Street veteran picks Palantir stock
