By US stocks traded mostly lower on Friday, capping off a down week for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Both averages ended a six-week win streak on Friday, while a rally in mega-cap tech stocks helped fuel a seventh week of gains and a fresh record high for the Nasdaq.
A big surge in bond yields this week served as a big hurdle for investors following a strong rally since the start of the month.
The 10-year US Treasury yield has surged nearly 20 basis points this week as macro data points suggest the economy remains resilient and on solid footing.
Meanwhile, investors are paying close attention to third-quarter earnings results, with a number of mega-cap tech companies set to report results next week, including Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Commentary surrounding AI monetization trends will be top of mind for investors when they parse through the earnings reports.
“We expect big tech earnings next week will display a mix of steady operational performance, AI-led revenue acceleration, and resilient advertising that signals ongoing health and innovation,” Global X research analyst Ido Caspi told Business Insider.
“We expect to see further evidence of generative AI moving along its growth curve and continued shift from experimentation to widespread monetization,” he added.
So far, 36% of S&P 500 companies have reported results. Of those companies, 79% are beating profit estimates by a median of 6%, while 58% are beating revenue estimates by a median of 2%, according to data from Fundstrat.
Traders next week will sift through several economic data updates, including September personal consumption expenditures, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, as well as the October jobs report. September’s data showed a stunning 254,000 jobs were added in the month.
A similarly hot number would likely temper rate-cut expectations further as markets see less urgency from the Fed to prop up the economy.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 5,808.12, down 0.03%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,114.40, down 0.61% (-256.96 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 18,518.61, up 0.56%
Here’s what else happened today:
- Nvidia briefly dethroned Apple as the largest company in the world on Friday.
- Nuclear power stocks are soaring amid an AI energy rush.
- Versace parent Capri’s stock plunged after a judge shot down a merger deal between the company and Coach owner Tapestry.
- Vladimir Putin tempered expectations for de-dollarization at a BRICS summit.
- JPMorgan said some drivers of Tesla’s earnings look unsustainable.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 2.19% to $71.73 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was higher by 2.11% to $75.95 a barrel.
- Gold was up 0.30% to $2,757.10 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield rose by 3 basis points to 4.246%.
- Bitcoin was lower by 1.83% to $66,914.
