The S&P 500 capped seven straight sessions of gains Thursday and closed at a new high.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record Friday, while tech stocks came under pressure as Snap
‘s Apple issues partly spurred a selloff in social-media stocks.
The Dow gained 74 points, or 0.2%, closing at 35,677.02 points and surpassing its record close of 35,625.4 points hit Aug. 16. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 0.8%.
Big Tech stocks were hit hard, as seen by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Over a quarter of the S&P 500’s total market capitalization is from technology companies, so when their shares decline, they usually bring the S&P 500 down with them, too.
Snap (ticker: SNAP) shares slid 26.6% as its revenue for the third quarter was slightly below estimates. Snap said Apple
‘s (AAPL) privacy changes damaged advertising sales. The company also warned that brands’ supply chain constraints—which limit the ability to meet sales goals—are prompting them to reduce ad spend. That hurt Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL) stocks, which fell 5.1% and 3%, respectively.
The stock market wasn’t having as rough a day as the major indexes would suggest. While tech stocks dropped, other sectors rose; about 63% of the S&P 500’s stocks were in the green, according to FactSet.
Earnings season thus far has largely propelled stocks higher. The aggregate earnings per share result from S&P 500 companies—excluding financials—has beaten analyst estimates by about 10%, according to Credit Suisse. Just a few weeks ago, profits were beating by only about 4%.
“A return to a focus on earnings would once again favor stock picking over buying Indexes,” writes Louis Navellier, founder of Navellier & Associates.
Another positive—certainly helping to lift economically-sensitive stocks—was strong economic data. The Markit Services Purchasing Managers Index showed a reading of 58.2 for October, beating estimates of 55.5. Any reading above 50 indicates that activity increased. The Markit Manufacturing PMI read 59.2, just below the expected 60.5.
While the PMI results showed that companies are paying higher costs for materials, they’re also raising prices. Ultimately, “demand is clearly strong,” writes Andrew Hollenhorst, Citigroup economist.
Markets continue to monitor one key negative factor—ongoing inflation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell implied at a virtual conference Friday that he is becoming slightly more concerned that high inflation is here to stay.
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Overseas, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% and the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.5% higher.
Here are 5 stocks on the move Friday:
Intel (INTC) was down 11.7% after the chip maker missed sales expectations when it posted earnings late Thursday, putting down a decline in its PC business to broader component shortages.
Mattel (MAT) rose 0.6% after reporting better-than-expected earnings.
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) gained 12.7% after its earnings beat estimates and the company offered optimistic guidance on steel pricing.
Zoom Video Communications (ZM) advanced 1% after getting upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Beyond Meat (BYND) tumbled 11.8% after forecasting third-quarter sales of $106 million, compared with its prior forecast of $120 million to $140 million.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
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