NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dow and S&P 500 ended modestly lower on Friday, dragged down by the losses of blue technology from the Intel and IBM brand after their quarterly results, as expectations of a complete economic reopening in the coming months.
IBM Corp. fell 9.91% and was the main drag on the Dow Jones industrial average after losing quarterly revenue estimates, hurt by a rare drop in sales of its software unit.
Intel Corp fell 9.29% as post-earnings comments from new CEO Pat Gelsinger suggested a lack of a strong embrace of outsourcing.
However, the losses in the technology sector were offset by the gains of Microsoft Corp. Apple Inc., which kept the declines in major U.S. stock indices under control and lifted the Nasdaq slightly.
Energy and financing were the worst performers among the 11 S&P sectors on Friday, while defense services and real estate groups advanced.
“Any delay or setback on the issue of reopening is likely to be a headwind for the energy sector,” said Andrew Mies, investment director at 6 Meridien in Wichita, Kansas.
“(But) the market is telling you that right now its confidence in cyclicals is waning.”
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reduced some losses shortly after the opening bell, as data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity rose surprisingly to its highest level by more than 13-1 / 2 years in early January, in contrast to a disappointing result in the previous data purchasing manager in Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points, or 0.57%, to 30,996.98, the S&P 500 lost 11.6 points, or 0.30%, to 3,841.47, and the Nasdaq Composite add 12.15 points, or 0.09%, to 13,543.06.
The volume of US stock markets was 12,790 million shares, compared to the average of 12,688 million in the full session of the last 20 trading days.
Despite the weakness, the top three indices rose weekly, with intense technological monitoring by the Nasdaq to get its best weekly performance since Nov. 6, as investors rallied on Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. awaiting their earnings reports in the coming weeks.
During the week, the S&P rose 1.94%, the Dow added 0.59% and the Nasdaq gained unofficially 4.19%.
As stock valuations have not approached levels since the Dotcom era, some market participants said the new variants of COVID-19 and the hiccup in vaccine launching pose short-term risks.
President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. economic crisis was deepening and that the government must take important steps now to help troubled Americans.
“The absolute assurance that investors felt a week ago … part of that is starting to disappear from the market.” Mies added, regarding the decline of the virus and the reopening of the economy.
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the appointment of Janet Yellen as the first woman Secretary of the Treasury, indicating that she would easily win the full approval of the Senate.
Declining problems outperformed the NYSE in a ratio of 1.00 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a 1.53 to 1 ratio favored the forwards.
The S&P 500 recorded 16 new highs of 52 weeks and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 189 new highs and 7 new lows.
Echo Wang reports in New York; Additional reports from Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Anil D’Silva and Diane Craft