Stocks retreated on Friday, closing out a turbulent week as Nvidia’s incredible run took a breather.
The S&P 500 lost 0.65 per cent to 5,123.69, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.16 per cent to 16,085.11. Both swung into negative territory after rising to new all-time highs earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average relinquished 68.66 points, or 0.18 per cent, to end at 38,722.69.
All three major indexes finished the choppy week lower. The broad S&P 500 pulled back by 0.26 per cent this week, while the blue-chip Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.93 per cent and 1.17 per cent, respectively. That decline marked the worst week for the 30-stock Dow since October.
Stocks were hurt Friday as an earlier rally in Nvidia lost steam. The artificial intelligence darling finished down more than 5 per cent in its worst session since late May.
Despite that breather, Nvidia shares still finished up more than 6 per cent on the week. It’s part of a monster rally that has added more than $1 trillion to the stock’s market cap in just the new year alone.
Though Nvidia dragged on tech, Apple rose 1 per cent in Friday trading. With that gain, the mega-cap stock snapped its longest losing streak since early 2022 at seven days. But shares were still down nearly 5 per cent on the week, making it the worst performer in the 30-stock Dow.
Investors scrutinized the February labor data, which revealed a higher-than-expected increase of 275,000 jobs compared to the estimated 198,000, suggesting a strong economy.
However, conflicting signals emerged with the unexpected rise in the unemployment rate to 3.9 per cent, lighter-than-feared wage growth, and a downward revision of January's job growth, potentially indicating a cooling inflation rate that might influence the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rate cuts.
Oil prices experienced a weekly decline due to subdued demand from China and ample global supply, as observed by the International Energy Agency. The West Texas Intermediate contract for April settled down 1.2 per cent, while the Brent contract for May settled down 1.1 per cent, with both U.S. crude and the global benchmark registering losses of 2.45 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, for the week amidst concerns regarding the sustainability of prices without significant Chinese demand recovery.
Turning to US sectors, Real Estate was the best performer, and Tech was the worst.
In the Australian landscape, the Australian market anticipates a 93 per cent probability of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reducing the cash rate in August, with full pricing for a move in September, projecting two quarter-point cuts for the year.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.60 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 66.27 US cents.
Commodities
Gold gained 0.94 per cent. Silver lost 0.12 per cent. Copper fell 0.88 per cent. Oil lost 1.17 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.43 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.16 per cent, and Paris closed 0.15 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.23 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.76 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.61 per cent..
On Friday, the Australian share market closed 1.07 per cent higher at 7,846.98.
Ex-dividends
Adairs Limited (ASX:ADH) is paying 5 cents fully franked
Consolidated Ops Gp (ASX:COG) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Coronado Global Res (ASX:CRN) is paying 0.5348 cents fully franked
CSL Limited (ASX:CSL) is paying 182.5713 cents unfranked
Dusk Group (ASX:DSK) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Generation Dev Group (ASX:GDG) is paying 1 cent 50 per cent franked
Joyce Corporation (ASX:JYC) is paying 11 cents fully franked
Naos Ex-50 (ASX:NAC) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Naos Smlcap Com Ltd (ASX:NSC) is paying 1.25 cents fully franked
Perpetual Equity Ltd (ASX:PIC) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) is paying 40 cents fully franked
Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW) is paying 23 cents fully franked
Turners Automotive (ASX:TRA) is paying 5.6286 cents 85 per cent franked
Dividends payable
Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG)
Fiducian Group Ltd (ASX:FID)
Infomedia Ltd (ASX:IFM)
Prestal Holdings Ltd (ASX:PTL)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
Disclaimer
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