S&P 500 Nears 6-Day Slide, Nasdaq 100 Faces Worst Week Since Late 2022: What’s Driving Markets Friday?

U.S. stocks are experiencing declines this Friday, on track of ending another week of negative performance.

The Nasdaq 100 has dropped over 5% this week, potentially marking its most significant decline since late October 2022, while the S&P 500 faces its sixth consecutive day of losses, the longest such streak since September 2022, with concerns over interest rates, corporate earnings, and geopolitical tensions weighing on investor sentiment.

Industry-wise, semiconductor stocks, tracked by the VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH are down 2.7%, eyeing weekly declines of about 8%, marking the most significant drop since June 2022.

Israel carried out limited retaliation against Iran overnight, targeting a location near an air base facility without causing significant damage.

Yields on shorter-dated U.S. Treasury bonds remain stable at around 5%, maintaining levels seen since mid-November 2023, amid Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell‘s staunch opposition to rate cuts.

Gold prices surged to $2,400 per ounce amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, while oil prices stabilized after an initial rise following the Israeli strike.

Bitcoin BTC/USD saw a modest increase of over 1%, with the crypto community anticipating the upcoming halving event.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.4% to $496.85, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.5%% to $379.83 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ tumbled 1.5% to $417.03 according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU outperformed, up 1.6%, followed by the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE, up 1.3%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK was the major laggard, down 1.5%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

• Paramount Global PARA rocketed 13% on rumors that Apollo Global Management APO and Sony Group Corp. SONY are mulling a joint bid for the company.
• Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI dropped 18% as the company announced its third-quarter earnings date, but it did not provide preliminary estimates.
• Netflix, Inc. NFLX saw a fall of nearly 9% despite beating Street estimates last quarter. Investors negatively reacted to the company’s plans to cease providing quarterly disclosures on subscriber growth or average revenue per member starting next year.
• Other companies reacting to earnings were American Express Co. AXP up 5.5%, Fifth Third Bancorp FITB up 5.6%, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN up 1.5% Regions Financial Corporation RF down 0.7%, Procter & Gamble Company PG flat, and Schlumberger Limited SLB, down 1.5%.
• Tesla Inc. TSLA was 0.5% lower after the EV-maker recalled thousands of Cybertrucks due to an accelerator pedal problem.

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