The Nasdaq index dropped as growth stocks suffered after advances in Treasury rates and shares of ride hailing company Lyft sank on a weak earnings outlook.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were expected to record falls after a week that was dominated by hawkish language from US Federal Reserve officials and earnings releases from more than half of the S&P 500 companies.
Following a 30 year bond auction with minimal demand, yields on the benchmark 10 year Treasury note increased to their highest levels in more than a month.
Apple Inc. lost between 0.6 percent and 4.4 percent, Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc.
Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments, questioned why anyone would risk any money in the stock market if they could get four percent in Treasuries without taking any risks. Because Nasdaq 100-type stocks are so sensitive to interest rates it undoubtedly has an effect on them
The Nasdaq Composite was down 92.48 points or 0.78 percent at 11,697.10, the S&P 500 was down 9.72 points or 0.24 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.18 points or 0.00 percent at 33,700.06.
With the consumer discretionary sector down 1.3 percent, eight of the main S&P 500 sectors had losses. Due to Russia’s efforts to reduce its supply of petroleum, oil prices rose and the energy sector saw a 2.2 percent increase.
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The current-quarter earnings prediction for Lyft Inc. was far below expectations and the company also cut rates sparking worries that it was losing ground to larger rival Uber Technologies Inc. Shares of Uber fell 3.6 percent.
Newell Brands Inc., a manufacturer of Sharpies, dropped 4.8 percent as a result of lower than anticipated annual predictions and the resignation of Chief Executive Ravi Saligram.
69 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported profits have outperformed profit forecasts for the quarter, according to Refinitiv.
A $1.5 billion expansion of Intel Corp’s chip testing and packaging facility in Vietnam is being considered, according to two persons with knowledge of the situation. The semiconductor giant’s stock fell 0.7 percent.
On the NYSE and the Nasdaq, declining issues outpaced advancing issues by a ratio of 1.61 to 1 and 2.08 respectively. While the Nasdaq saw 13 new highs and 39 new lows the S&P index saw only one new 52-week high.
