Stocks are seeing modest weakness in morning trading on Friday, although selling pressure has remained relatively subdued. The major averages have all moved to the downside following the lackluster performance seen over the past few sessions.
Currently, the major averages are lingering slightly below the unchanged line. The Dow is down 53.03 points or 0.2 percent at 31,377.67, the Nasdaq is down 36.55 points or 0.3 percent at 13,989.23 and the S&P 500 is down 1.70 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 3,914.68.
The modest weakness on Wall Street may partly reflect profit taking after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 rose to new record closing highs in the previous session.
Recent consolidation efforts have not gained much traction, however, as traders seem wary of missing out on further upside.
The markets have largely maintained their upward momentum amid optimism about more fiscal stimulus and an easing of the coronavirus crisis.
Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a preliminary report from the University of Michigan showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of February.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 76.2 in February after edging down to 79.0 in January. The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 80.8.
With the unexpected decrease, the consumer sentiment index slid to its lowest level since hitting 74.1 in August of 2020.
Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin said the unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment was concentrated in expectations and among households with incomes below $75,000.
“Households with incomes in the bottom third reported significant setbacks in their current finances, with fewer of these households mentioning recent income gains than anytime since 2014,” Curtin said.
He added, “Presumably a new round of stimulus payments will reduce financial hardships among those with the lowest incomes.”
Despite the modest weakness being shown by the broader markets, financial stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day.
Reflecting the strength in the financial sector, the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index are up by 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Transportation stocks are also seeing some strength in morning trading, while weakness is visible among gold and utilities stocks.
In overseas trading, Japanese and Australian stocks moved to the downside on Friday, with most of the other markets in the Asia-Pacific region closed for holidays. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside, extending the drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.9 basis points at 1.197 percent.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Seeing Modest Weakness But Selling Pressure Subdued
2021-02-12 15:42:13
