Wall Street had its first weekly loss in 10 weeks on Friday, despite a little victory

Wall Street had its first weekly loss in 10 weeks on Friday, despite a little victory

Wall Street had its first weekly loss in 10 weeks on Friday, despite a little victory

For the first time in 10 weeks, all three benchmarks had weekly declines: the S&P 500 dropped 1.54%, the Nasdaq Composite sank 3.26%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.59%.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 13.77 points, or 0.09%, to 14,524.07 on Friday, while the S&P 500 gained 8.56 points, or 0.18%, to end at 4,697.24. At 37,466.11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 25.77 points, or 0.07%.

Despite a turbulent session on Friday, US market indexes ended the week with slight gains. Despite this, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite had their worst weekly performance in months since the start of 2024.

For the first time in 10 weeks, all three benchmarks had weekly declines: the S&P 500 dropped 1.54%, the Nasdaq Composite sank 3.26%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.59%.

The Nasdaq had its worst week since late September, while the S&P 500 had its worst weekly performance since late October.

Early in 2024, investors have exercised caution as they wait for further information on the timing and extent of interest rate reductions.

Underestimating that theory has been a warning for profit taking since expectations of a quicker rate of easing led to a strong surge in the latter weeks of 2023 that brought the S&P 500 to within 1% of its all-time high.

Greg Boutle, head of BNP Paribas' U.S. stocks and derivatives strategy, stated that as of right now, the market seems to have corrected itself after being overbought towards the close of the previous year.

Friday's session saw erratic market movements all day as investors processed the most recent macroeconomic data, which presented divergent opinions on the potential start date of interest rate reductions.

Initial anticipation of a swift reduction in interest rates were dashed by a Labor Department report revealing robust employment statistics, which indicated that U.S. firms employed more people than anticipated in December. This led to a decline in futures.

However, a study conducted in December by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) revealed a fall in activity within the services sector, indicating a weakening of the economy. The market rose throughout the morning and afternoon as a result of traders who had been betting on the easing becoming positive.

The three indexes eventually prevailed throughout the day, despite more volatility in the afternoon—the S&P and Nasdaq's first positive day of 2024.

"In terms of the macro the information, I think there's something for every person in terms of the data we're seeing," BNP's Boutle said.

However, he said that it was doubtful that anybody would be persuaded by this week's data release that he had altered his mind about reducing rates going forward.

According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders expect a 66.4% likelihood of at least a 25 basis point rate drop in March.

The U.S. is the benchmark that represents interest rate expectations. At the conclusion of the week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 4.05%.

The S&P 500 financial index increased by 0.5% as banks maintained their strong performance in advance of next week's start of the earnings season.

Large regional banks showed optimism as Comerica Inc., Citizens Financial Group, and Zions Bancorporation all saw increases of 2.6% to 3.3%. The S&P bank index reached an 11-month high, up 1.3%.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 13.77 points, or 0.09%, to 14,524.07 on Friday, while the S&P 500 gained 8.56 points, or 0.18%, to end at 4,697.24. At 37,466.11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 25.77 points, or 0.07%.

After the drug developer revealed unsatisfactory outcomes from its heart disease medication's late-stage studies, Applied Therapeutics saw a 40.6% decline.

Following Jefferies' downgrading of Palantir Technologies to "underperform" on a high stock valuation, the company saw a 1.7% decline in value.

After the manufacturer of exercise equipment announced that it will exclusively collaborate with TikTok to distribute its workout material, Peloton saw a 9.6% increase in value.

11.2 billion shares were traded on US exchanges, down from an average of 12.3 billion for the previous 20 trading days.