Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Friday, giving back ground following the strong upward move seen over the course of the previous sessions. The major averages have all moved to the downside on the day.<\/p>\n
Currently, the major averages are off their worst levels of the day but still firmly negative. The Dow is down 235.69 points or 0.7 percent at 32,985.11, the Nasdaq is down 86.47 points or 0.8 percent at 10,391.62 and the S&P 500 is down 30.31 points or 0.8 percent at 3,818.97.<\/p>\n
The pullback on Wall Street comes as some traders look to cash in on yesterday’s strong gains, which largely reflected a substantial rebound by technology<\/span> stocks. <\/p>\n Lingering concerns about the economic outlook also continue to weigh on Wall Street amid worries further interest rate hikes will lead to a recession in the New Year.<\/p>\n Stocks sometimes benefit from window-dressing toward the end of the year, but traders may see that as a waste of time given the substantial weakness seen in 2022.<\/p>\n Going into the final trading day of the year, the Nasdaq was down by 33.0 percent for 2022, while the S&P 500 was down by 19.2 percent and the Dow was down by 8.6 percent.<\/p>\n In U.S. economic news, a report released by MNI Indicators showed a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of contraction in Chicago-area business<\/span> activity in the month of December.<\/p>\n MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer climbed to 44.9 in December from 37.2 in November, although a reading below 50 still indicates a contraction. Economists had expected the index to rise to 41.2.<\/p>\n The bigger than expected rebound came after the Chicago business barometer fell to its lowest reading since the 2008\/09 global financial crisis, excluding the 2020 pandemic shock.<\/p>\n Biotechnology stocks have shown a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.3 percent.<\/p>\n Considerable weakness is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent drop by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.<\/p>\n Housing, software and healthcare stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves to the downside.<\/p>\n