Economy

The S&P 500 fell below 5,000, and the Nasdaq fell

April 19, 2024
Izer

Stocks were mostly lower Friday afternoon as big technology stocks continued a selloff that brought the S&P 500 back below the 5,000 mark.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.8%, while the tech-stock-dominated Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.2%.

The S&P 500 on Thursday posted five straight losing days as investors digested disappointing earnings from Netflix (NFLX). That dampened hopes that quarterly earnings would meet high expectations to help revive the stock's rally. Shares of the streaming giant, the first to go public with the tech giant, fell 9% in afternoon trading.

Other technology stocks followed on their way down. Market darling Nvidia (NVDA) lost more than 4%, while Amazon (AMZN) saw a decline of more than 2%. Apple (AAPL) stock fell 1%.

The market returned from a deeper sell-off after Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran spooked overnight traders and spurred a rush into safe havens such as gold. But investors remain on high alert, even though Iran confirmed the drone attack and said it failed.

Stocks were already under pressure before the shock amid ongoing uncertainty over interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Procter & Gamble (PG) results were released on Friday, which raised its full-year earnings forecast despite missing quarterly sales estimates. Also on the docket, American Express (AXP) posted an earnings beat as wealthy customers continued to spend.

Meanwhile, US government bonds have retreated almost completely from their biggest rise of the year. The yield on the safe-haven 10-year Treasury note (^TNX) fell to trade at around 4.6%.

In commodities, Brent crude futures (BZ=F) – the global oil benchmark – traded about 0.4% higher at around $87 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (CL=F) rose 0.3% to about $83 per barrel. Gold's gains (GC=F) eased slightly after earlier gains, trading 0.3% higher.

He lives7 updates

  • The S&P 500 index slips below the 5000 level

    Stocks were mostly lower Friday afternoon as big technology stocks continued a selloff that brought the S&P 500 back below the 5,000 mark.

    The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.8%, while the tech-stock-dominated Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.2%.

  • The Fed's Goolsby says “it makes sense to wait” before cutting interest rates

    Chicago Fed President Austin Goolsbee became the fourth Fed official this week to take a tougher stance on interest rate policy, signaling that a long-awaited first rate cut may still be months away.

    Goolsbee said Friday that “progress on inflation has stalled” and that it “makes sense to wait” before cutting interest rates, Yahoo Finance reported. Jennifer Schoenberger Reports.

    The comments were notable because previously, Goolsbee had been one of the Fed's more dovish members, known for his view that the Fed was on a “golden path” to lowering inflation without unemployment rising.

    The latest wave of greater caution began with Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, who said on Tuesday that it would take “longer than expected” to achieve the confidence needed to bring inflation down to the central bank's 2% target.

    The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March showed that inflation was higher than expected for the third month in a row.

    “You never want to exaggerate any month's data, especially inflation, which is a noisy series,” Goolsby said in remarks prepared for a speech at the Association for the Advancement of Business Editing and Writing's annual conference. “But after three months of this, it can't be denied.”

    He added: “For now, it makes sense to wait and get more clarity before acting.”

  • Stocks are trending in morning trading

    Here are some of the stocks topping Yahoo Finance's ETFs page during morning trading on Friday:

    super micro computer (SMCI): Shares of the server maker fell more than 16% Friday morning after the company announced its third-quarter results date but did not make an advance announcement, which investors took as a negative signal, Wells Fargo Securities wrote.

    Netflix (NFLX): Shares of the streaming giant fell 7% after the company delivered second-quarter revenue forecasts that beat estimates and announced it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber metrics closely watched by Wall Street.

    Basic (Paragraph): The entertainment company rose 8% on Friday morning after a report from New York times Sony Pictures Entertainment (SONY) has entered into talks with Apollo Global Management (APO), the parent company of Yahoo Finance, to discuss a potential joint buyout bid for Paramount, it has been revealed. According to the report, the two companies, through a joint venture, will offer cash in exchange for Paramount shares, taking the company private.

    American Express (XP): Shares of the financial services company rose nearly 5% after announcing first-quarter earnings that showed an 11% jump in revenue compared to the same period last year and beat Wall Street expectations. The credit card company also boasted that Gen Z and millennial customers accounted for more than 60% of new account acquisitions globally in the quarter.

  • Apple pulls WhatsApp and Threads from Chinese App Store

    Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China based on a government order, citing national security concerns.

    Censorship demands to restrict access to some of the most popular messaging apps represent Beijing's latest effort to impose control through Apple's ecosystem. the movement, Reuters reportsIt also points to China's central government becoming increasingly intolerant of foreign online messaging services and giving less room for the iPhone maker to operate there.

    “The Cyberspace Administration of China has ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on national security concerns,” Apple said in a statement.

    The Great Firewall of China blocks access to these applications, but they are still commonly used by Chinese users through VPNs that bypass restrictions. as The Wall Street Journal reportsBeijing has raised concerns that citizens could use the apps to spread information subject to government censorship or to cause social unrest.

  • Stocks often open lower

    The pressure that forced stocks lower did not mostly ease on Friday, as rising geopolitical tensions, disappointing earnings and uncertainty over interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve weighed on Wall Street.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down 0.3%.

  • Amex CEO tells Yahoo Finance: Our customers feel great

    Inflation may be difficult and devastating for many families, but those wealthy households swinging with American Express (AXP) cards can still feel good.

    So great, American Express saw sales rise 11% in the first quarter, the company said this morning.

    Here's what Amex CEO Steve Squirre told me over the phone:

    “We have a premium consumer, and our premium consumers feel good about the economy and feel good about what they want to do. And yes, inflation is still high, but it's not growing as fast. The reality is that our consumers are going to spend.”

  • This is the most important point on Netflix

    Netflix (NFLX) shares are taking a pre-market hit after another big quarter on almost every item.

    It seems reasonable; The stock was perfectly priced ahead of the report.

    But cutting through the hype, this point by Jeff Wlodarczak of Pivotal Research is the most important thing to address on Netflix at this point:

    “Netflix reported another high-quality result with Q1 subscriber numbers exceeded driven by core US and Euro markets and stronger-than-expected average revenue per user (successful Q4 price hikes in US/UK/France) Which implies the ability to deliver strong subscriber growth and price/margin expansion, which is a powerful combination“.

    With nothing in the report to suggest that Netflix's fundamentals are suffering, you have to wonder whether the pullback in the stock will be bought at the open today. One could make an argument that the stock is not expensive compared to historical trading norms.

    Check out current ratings on Netflix compared to those seen from 2016 to 2021, when the company wasn't fundamentally as strong as it is today. All data is of course provided to you through the Yahoo Finance platform.

    You can analyze more of this data on Netflix by heading to the statistics section on the Netflix Bar page.

    Netflix stock may not be as expensive as it appears on the surface.Netflix stock may not be as expensive as it appears on the surface.

    Netflix stock may not be as expensive as it appears on the surface. (Yahoo Finance)

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