Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for June 17, 2024
U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Friday but the Nasdaq ended in positive territory to close at a record high for the fifth consecutive session. However, the S&P 500 and Dow slid as Wall Street maintained a cautious stance after the release of the consumer sentiment data.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) slid 0.2% or 57.94 points to close at 38,589.16 points.
The S&P 500 declined less than 0.1% or 2.14 points, to end at 5,431.60 points. Materials, industrials and consumer discretionary stocks were the biggest drag on the index.
The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) lost 0.9%, while the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) fell 1%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) lost 0.8%. Seven of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.1% or 21.32 points to finish at 16,688.88 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 6.03% to 12.66. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.39-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 2.51-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 10.12 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12.10 billion.
Consumer Sentiment Dips Further
Wall Street remained relatively quiet on Friday following the release of fresh inflation data earlier in the week. On Friday, fresh data from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers Sentiment showed that consumer sentiment declined to 65.6 in June after falling to 69.1 in May, to hit a seven-month low.
This was also sharply below the consensus estimate of a reading of 72. The survey’s one-year outlook for inflation remained unchanged at 3.3% in June. However, the survey’s five-year outlook for inflation increased to 3.1% in June from 3% in May.
The consumer sentiment report comes two days after fresh data showed inflation cooled in May, which brought a sigh of relief to investors. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its June FOMC meeting, which was highly anticipated.
However, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Fed sees only one rate cut this year, sharply lower from the three projected in its March meeting.
The mixed data over the week didn’t impact Nasdaq much as the index continued its winning streak for the fifth straight session as tech stocks rallied on Friday.
The Dow, however, continued to suffer for the fourth consecutive session. On Friday, the blue-chip index suffered due to a decline in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT). Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line and Caterpillar declined 7.5% and 1.5%, respectively. Caterpillar has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Weekly Roundup
For the week, the Dow ended 0.5% lower. However, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded gains of 1.6% and 3.2%, respectively, for the week.
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