Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for Aug 14, 2023
Wall Street closed mixed on Friday following weak economic data including a key inflation data. A spike in yields of the U.S. government bonds pulled down technology stocks while energy stocks continue to thrive. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended in negative territory while the Dow finished in positive zone.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.3% or 105.3 points to close at 35,218.40. Notably, 22 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 8 in negative zone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 13,644.85, dropping 0.7% due to weak performance of large-cap technology stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to end at 4,464.05. Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the benchmark ended in negative zone while four finished in positive territory. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) fell 0.7%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) advanced 1.5%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 6.4% to 14.84. A total of 10.19 billion shares were traded on Friday, higher than the last 20-session average of 10.93 billion. The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and 3 new 52-week lows. The Nasdaq Composite registered 52 new 52-week highs and 169 new 52-week lows.
Economic Data
The Department of Labor reported that the producer price index (PPI) increased 0.3% month-over-month in July, higher-than-the consensus estimate of 0.2%. June’s data was revised downward to remain flat with May compared with an increase of 0.1% reported earlier. Year over year, PPI rose 0.8% in July. Core PPI (excluding volatile food, energy, and trade services) increased 0.2% month-over-month in July, marking its highest increase since February. Year over year, core PPI increased 2.7% in July.
The University of Michigan reported that the preliminary reading of consumer sentiment came in at 71.2 in August, missing the consensus estimate of 72. The final reading of July was 71.6, marking a 22-month high. The sub-index for current condition rose to 77.4 in August from 76.6 in July. The sub-index for expectations fell to 67.3 in August from 68.3 in July.
Spike in U.S. Treasury Yield
Following weak economic data, the yield of the short-term 2-Year U.S. Treasury Note rose to 4.88%. This yield is closely linked to the expectation of the near-term interest rate movement. Moreover, the yield on the benchmark 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note rose to 4.166%.
Consequently, stock prices of large-cap technology stocks such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD and NVIDIA Corp. NVDA tumbled 2.4% and 3.6%, respectively. NVIDIA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Crude Oil Prices Thrive
The price of the U.S. benchmark - West Texas Intermediate crude – for September contract closed at $83.04, reflecting a rally of 7th consecutive week for the first time since June 2022. The price of the global benchmark – Brent crude – for October contract closed at $86.81, advancing for 7 successive weeks.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a mixed one for Wall Street. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.3% and 1.9%, respectively, while the Dow rose 0.6%. Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite recorded their second consecutive weekly losses. The Nasdaq Composite posted two consecutive weekly losses for the first time since December 2022.
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