Following the significant downturn seen over the course of Thursday’s session, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw further downside, the Dow and the S&P 500 regained some ground.<\/p>\n
The Nasdaq climbed off its worst levels of the day but still closed down 71.46 points or 0.6 percent to 11,718.12, while the Dow rose 169.39 points or 0.6 percent to 33,869.27.<\/p>\n
The S&P 500 spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing up 8.96 points or 0.2 percent to 4,090.46.<\/p>\n
Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all moved lower for the week. The Dow edged down by 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 slumped by 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq plunged by 2.4 percent.<\/p>\n
The choppy trading on Wall Street partly reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week’s closely watched inflation data.<\/p>\n
Traders are likely to keep a close eye on the data for clues about whether Federal Reserve will need to raise rates higher than currently anticipated in order to bring down prices.<\/p>\n
The mixed performance also came as traders react to mixed February consumer sentiment data released by the University of Michigan. <\/p>\n
While consumer sentiment saw a continued improvement in February, the report also showed a rebound in near-term inflation expectations.<\/p>\n
The report showed the consumer sentiment index rose to 66.4 in February from 64.9 in January. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 65.0.<\/p>\n
The consumer sentiment index increased for the third straight month, reaching its highest level since hitting 67.2 in January 2022.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, one-year inflation expectations climbed to 4.2 percent in February from 3.9 percent in January, with expectations rebounding after falling for three straight months.<\/p>\n
The lackluster performance on Wall Street also reflected a mixed reaction to the latest batch of corporate earnings news. <\/p>\n
Shares of Lyft (LYFT) plummeted after the ride-sharing company reported an unexpected fourth quarter loss and provided disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter.<\/p>\n
Travel company Expedia (EXPE) also moved sharply lower after reporting fourth quarter results that missed analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.<\/p>\n
At the same time, shares of Yelp (YELP) surged after the consumer review platform reported fourth quarter results roughly in line with estimates and provided upbeat guidance for 2023.<\/p>\n
Sector News<\/p>\n
Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets<\/span>, energy stocks saw substantial strength on the day, benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of crude oil.<\/p>\n With crude for March delivery jumping $1.66 to $79.72 a barrel, the NYSE Arca Oil Index soared by 4.5 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked by 3.3 percent.<\/p>\n A surge by the price of natural gas also contributed to significant strength among natural gas stocks, driving the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index up by 2.9 percent.<\/p>\n Computer hardware, utilities and telecom stocks also showed strong moves to the upside over the course of the session.<\/p>\n On the other hand, airline stocks extended the sell-off seen on Thursday, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbling by 2.1 percent to its lowest closing level in a month.<\/p>\n Semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 1.6 percent.<\/p>\n Other Markets<\/p>\n In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.3 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.0 percent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.4 percent.<\/p>\n In the bond market, treasuries slid firmly into negative territory as the day progressed, extending yesterday’s pullback. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 6.1 basis points to 3.744 percent.<\/p>\n Looking Ahead<\/p>\n The inflation data is likely to be in the spotlight next week, although traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on retail sales and industrial production as well as the latest earnings news. <\/p>\n