Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Oct. 12, 2023.
Source: NYSE
Stocks were mixed Friday as traders assessed the first batch of major earnings and rising inflation expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 148 points, or nearly 0.4%, boosted by big bank earnings. The S&P 500 lost 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8%.
The major indexes came off their session highs after consumer sentiment data was released earlier Friday. According to the University of Michigan’s closely watched survey, consumer sentiment data slumped in October while inflation expectations spiked.
A slew of largely positive reports from major financial firms on Friday kicked off the third-quarter earnings season. Shares of JPMorgan Chase added 2.4% and Wells Fargo rose 2.6%, while Citigroup also jumped nearly 1% after posting largely positive earnings. BlackRock‘s shares edged 1.4% lower.
UnitedHealth Group, which has the highest price per share of any Dow stock, gained 2.4% on earnings.
Investors also kept an eye on Treasury yields.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by 9 basis points at 4.621%. The 2-year Treasury yield was nearly 3 basis points lower at 5.043%. Yields and prices have an inverted relationship.
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said he thinks the central bank can “hold rates where they are.
“Rates are still in the driver’s seat, and that’s really the rebound that we’re seeing since last Friday,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial. “There’s early signs that we’re seeing technically here of a capitulation, but … we’re still fighting against an uptrend in longer-duration yields.”
Unless the yield on the 10-year Treasury retreats to near 4.35%, Turnquist said he sees a “challenging and maybe choppy market as we look ahead for October.”
The S&P 500 is up more than 0.4% for the week, while the Dow is up 0.7%. The Nasdaq is down 0.2% for this week. This would be the third positive week in a row for the Nasdaq, and the second straight positive week for the S&P 500. The Dow is also set to snap a string of three straight weekly declines.
