U.S. Stocks Seeing Further Downside Amid Ongoing Economic Concerns

After ending yesterday’s choppy session modestly lower, stocks have seen further downside during trading on Friday. With the downward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are poised to close lower for the fifth straight week.

Currently, the major averages are well off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Dow is down 318.44 points or 0.8 percent at 41,634.88, the Nasdaq is down 109.16 points or 0.6 percent at 17,582.46 and the S&P 500 is down 40.85 points or 0.7 percent at 5,622.04.

The weakness on Wall Street comes amid ongoing concerns about the economic outlook along with rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

A steep drop by shares of FedEx (FDX) is also weighing on the markets, with the delivery giant plunging by 9.0 percent on the day.

The slump by FedEx comes after the company reported slightly weaker than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings guidance due to “continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.”

Dow component Nike (NKE) is also tumbling by 7.0 percent after the athletic apparel and footwear giant reported fiscal third quarter results that beat estimates but forecast a decrease in sales in the current quarter.

Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) has also plummeted by 8.0 percent even though the company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Overall trading activity appears somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Sector News

Housing stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 2.6 percent.

Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) is leading the sector lower, plunging by 6.0 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal first quarter results but forecasting fiscal second quarter new orders below estimates.

Considerable weakness is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) has tumbled by 2.9 percent after a report from the Minnesota Star Tribune said the company will temporarily idle two Minnesota operations as Trump’s tariffs shake up the U.S. auto industry.

Gold, semiconductor and airline stocks are also seeing notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific ended mixed on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.2 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent, while stocks in Japan, South Korea and Australia moved modestly higher.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back near the unchanged line after seeing initial strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 4.231 percent.

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