Closing Stock Market Summary for Friday August 18, 2023
The stock market had a mixed showing today. Early selling sent the S&P 500 to its lowest level in nearly eight weeks while the Nasdaq slid to a ten-week low.
Closing Stock Market Summary for Friday The stock market had a mixed showing today. Early selling sent the S&P 500 to its lowest level in nearly eight weeks while the Nasdaq slid to a ten-week low. The major indices started to nudge higher, though, around mid-morning on no news. There was a sharp, brief move higher in the last 10 minutes of trading that drove the Nasdaq into positive territory for the only time this session.
Ultimately, the S&P 500 closed flat, the Nasdaq fell 0.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. The Russell 2000 had a slight performance edge, gaining 0.5% today. Initial weakness was driven by losses in mega-cap stocks, worries about China after property developer Evergrande filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., and carryover downside momentum after the persistent selling in August.
Shortly after the open, decliners led advancers by an 11-to-10 margin at the NYSE and a 5-to-4 margin at the Nasdaq. By the close, advancers had a 5-to-4 lead over decliners at the NYSE and an 11-to-10 lead at the Nasdaq. Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the green. Energy (+0.9%) led the pack while communication services (-1.0%) brought up the rear. On the earnings front, Deere (DE 397.02, -22.14, -5.3%) fell 5.0% despite beating EPS expectations for Q3 and raising its net income guidance for the fiscal year for the third consecutive quarter.
Today's selling brought shares of DE below their 50-day (417.34) and 200-day (408.14) moving averages to a seven-week low. Including today's losses, Deere is still up 14.8% since the start of June. Applied Materials (AMAT 142.66, +5.07, +3.7%), meanwhile, logged a gain after its earnings report. AMAT beat Q3 expectations and issued above-consensus EPS guidance for Q4. Treasuries settled with gains across the curve. The 2-yr note yield fell five basis points to 4.91%. The 10-yr note yield fell six basis points to 4.25%.
There was no U.S. economic data of note today and Monday's session will also be free of scheduled economic releases. Nasdaq Composite: +27.0% YTD S&P 500: +13.8% YTD S&P Midcap 400: +6.1% YTD Russell 2000: +5.6% YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average: +4.1% YTD
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