U.S. Stocks Remain Mostly Lower After Early Pullback

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks remain mostly lower in mid-day trading on Friday. The Nasdaq briefly bounced above the unchanged line in morning trading but has rejoined the Dow and S&P 500 in negative territory since then.

Currently, the major averages are all in the red. The Dow is down 211.95 points or 0.6 percent at 33,848.41, the Nasdaq is down 61.06 points or 0.4 percent at 14,021.48 and the S&P 500 is down 25.25 points or 0.6 percent at 4,186.22.

The weakness on Wall Street may partly reflect profit taking after the upward move seen on Thursday lifted the S&P 500 to a new record closing high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq also reached a record intraday high during yesterday’s trading but pulled back and ended the session only modestly higher.

A steep drop by shares of Twitter (TWTR) is also weighing on the markets, with the social media giant plunging by 13.1 percent.

The nosedive by Twitter comes after the company reported better than expected first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.

Energy giants Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) have also moved to the downside after reporting their quarterly results.

On the other hand, shares of Amazon (AMZN) have moved higher after the online retail giant reported first quarter earnings that far exceeded analyst estimates.

Another batch of upbeat U.S. economic has helped limit the downside for the markets, with a report from the Commerce Department showing personal income skyrocketed in March amid the distribution of another round of stimulus checks.

The Commerce Department said personal income soared by 21.1 percent in March after plunging by a revised 7.0 percent in February.

Economists had expected personal income to spike by 20.3 percent compared to the 7.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

The report also showed personal spending jumped by 4.2 percent in March following a 1.0 percent decrease in February. Personal spending was expected to surge up by 4.1 percent.

A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by more than initially estimated in the month of April.

The report said the consumer sentiment index for April was upwardly revised to 88.3 from a preliminary reading of 86.5. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised to 87.5.

The consumer sentiment index rose from 84.9 in March to reach its highest level since hitting 89.1 in March of 2020.

Sector News

Oil service stocks have moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.5 percent.

The sell-off by oil service stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery tumbling $1.64 to $63.37 a barrel.

Significant weakness also remains visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent slump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

The index is pulling back after ending the previous session at its best closing level since a two-for-one split in early 2006.

Semiconductor stocks also continue to see considerable weakness in mid-day trading, resulting in a 2 percent drop by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) is posting a steep loss after the chipmaker reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.

Steel, computer hardware and networking stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside amid broad based weakness on Wall Street.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and China’s Shanghai Composite Index both slid by 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged by 2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved slightly higher over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.1 basis points at 1.629 percent.