Hamza Shaban
Stock market today: S&P, Nasdaq fall as Nvidia slides for 2nd straight day
US stocks mostly finished in the red Friday as a tech-led rally showed real signs of fatigue for the first time in over a week.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both lost about 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) managed to climb just over the flatline.
All three indexes logged a weekly win, but the Nasdaq barely gained ground.
The quiet session comes after a notable dip on Thursday. The S&P had been flying higher, briefly crossing 5,500 for the first time. But the Nasdaq snapped a streak of seven straight record closes with its loss in the prior session.
Nvidia (NVDA), which briefly catapulted to the title of world's most valuable company this week, has led the AI-fueled rally. But after a sizable loss on Thursday, it lost more than 3% Friday. Other chip stocks, including Broadcom (AVGO), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and Qualcomm (QCOM), slumped alongside Nvidia.
Investors are also assessing the broader health of the US economy and the path for interest rates. Former St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, an inflation hawk, said Thursday that last week's cool Consumer Price Index reading could pave the way for a rate cut in September. Around two-thirds of traders still expect rate cuts to begin then, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Next week investors will get a fresh reading from the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, which will provide another data point for central bankers to mull over.
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Home prices hit record high in May
The cost of buying a home reached a new record high in May, making homeownership even more of a challenge for would-be buyers.
The median sales price for previously owned homes jumped to $419,300 — a 5.8% bump from May last year — and marked the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains, according to the National Association of Realtors. It's the highest price ever recorded.
The jump in prices was more pronounced in some regions. In the Northeast, the median price rose to $479,200, a 9.2% gain from a year ago, while in the Midwest, the median price climbed to $317,100, a 6.4% surge from the prior year.
Sales of previously owned homes dropped 0.7% in May from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.11 million and 2.8% lower from a year ago.
“Eventually, more inventory will help boost home sales and tame home price gains in the upcoming months,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Increased housing supply spells good news for consumers who want to see more properties before making purchasing decisions.”
The drop in sales comes as mortgage rates remain elevated. The average weekly rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage slid to 6.87% from 6.95% a week prior, per Freddie Mac data.