Stocks were retreating in Friday afternoon trade after bouncing between small gains and losses earlier, as investors dealt with uncertainty over the spread of COVID-19 in China.
Investors were also digesting a mixed bag of economic data as corporate earnings season moves into the home stretch.
What are major indexes doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.27% was down 75 points, or 0.3%, at about 29,348, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.08% edged 0.1%, about 3 points, lower at 3,371. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.04% slipped 6 points to trade near 9,706, about a 0.1% decline.
All three benchmark indexes touched all-time highs earlier in the week. As of Friday morning, the Dow looked set to end the week with a 1.1% gain, the S&P 500 was on pace to advance about 1.5% higher for the week, and the Nasdaq was set to gain 2.3% for the period.
What’s driving the market?
China on Friday said 121 more people had died from COVID-19, the disease caused by a coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,383. The country’s National Health Commission reported 5,090 new confirmed cases in mainland China, bringing the total to 63,851. The number of new cases jumped sharply on Thursday after a change in the government’s counting method.
Analysts said the changes to the methodology were fueling doubts about the accuracy of China’s figures.
“Most traders still lack visibility on the way the virus is spreading in China, especially after a new testing method was introduced this week,” said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, in a note. “The recent data from Beijing show lower new daily cases but still more than before the new testing process was implemented, which provides investors with a blurry picture of the situation.”
Friday also featured a heavy economic calendar. Retail sales rose 0.3% in January, the government said, matching the MarketWatch consensus forecast. Import prices rose 0.2% during the month, according to a separate government report, and have gained 0.3% in the past 12 months.
Industrial production marked its fourth decline in five months in January, the Federal Reserve said falling 0.3%, in line with Wall Street expectations.
But a measure of consumer sentiment surged above expectations to touch a near 15-year high in a preliminary February reading. Separately, the Commerce Department said business inventories rose a scant 0.1% in December.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is scheduled to speak at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.
Which companies are in focus?
- Shares of Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +7.16% were up nearly 7% in early action after reporting late Thursday record quarterly data sales of $968 million. Opinion:Nvidia shocks Wall Street with surging data-center sales
- Roku Inc. ROKU, -5.84% shares were down 4.3%. The streaming-media company late Thursday delivered a better-than-expected earnings report and an upbeat forecast for the quarter and year ahead.
- Tesla Inc. TSLA, -0.45% shares were slightly lowernmrk a day after the company surprised investors by announcing plans to offer around $2 billion of common stock in an underwritten deal.
- Shares of Newmark Group Inc. NMRK, -3.56% were down 3.4% after an analyst downgrade.
- Canopy Growth Corp.’s U.S.-listed stock CGC, +15.83% WEED, +16.00% surged 16% after reporting a narrower-than-expected fiscal third-quarter loss.
- Drug wholesaler stocks fell after the Wall Street Journal reported that 21 states had rejected their offer for a settlement over their roles in spurring the opioid crisis. McKesson Corporation MCK, -0.54% shares were down 0.7% and AmerisourceBergen Corporation ABC, -0.87% shares were down 0.9%.
- Shares of Newell Brands Inc. NWL, +4.53% were up 4.4% after it delivered fourth-quarter earnings Friday morning that topped Wall Street estimates.
What are other markets doing?
Oil continued to power higher. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, +0.64% was 61 cents, or 1.2%, higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange. WTI has gained 3.5% in the week to date.
Gold for April delivery GCJ20, +0.47% rose 0.4% to $1,585.80 and was on track for a weekly gain on haven buying.
The U.S. dollar DXY, +0.02% was less than 0.1% lower against a basket of rival currencies.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe SXXP, -0.13% slipped 0.1% to trade near 431, and the FTSE FTSE, -0.51% was 1.1% lower, near 7,452.
In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.70% rose 0.7% to close at 3,987.73, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.38% ticked up 0.4% to 2,917.01, and the Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.31% closed 0.3% higher, at 27,815.60. The Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.59% lost 0.6% to 23,687.59.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -2.37% caught a bid, with the yield shedding 4 basis points to 1.58%. Bond yields fall when prices rise.
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