Stocks Choppy to Wind up February
February 26,2021 10:47 am EST
Tech stocks gave up their earlier gains and the broader market came under pressure on Friday as Wall Street struggled to shake off fears of rapidly rising rates.
The Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 307.01 points, or 1%, to 31,095.
The S&P 500 forfeited 11.15 points to 3,818.19
The NASDAQ Composite recovered from its recent slump, picking up 10.26 points to 13,129.69.
The S&P 500 is down 2% so far this week, while the NASDA has lost 5%. The Dow is down 0.3%.
Some of the Big Tech stocks lost ground after leading the market earlier. Alphabet and Amazon turned red, while Apple and Microsoft were off its highs.
Energy has gained 6.8% this week alone, the biggest winner by far amid expectations that consumers around the world will soon be driving and flying as they were prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Industrials and financials are the only two other sectors in the green week to date.
The weakness elsewhere came even after the personal consumption expenditures price index that the Federal Reserve watches indicated subdued inflation in January. The PCE index rose 0.3% for the month, slightly ahead of the 0.2% expectation but was up just 1.5% year over year, matching Dow Jones estimates.
Economists and investment managers say the bond market is reacting to positive economics as vaccines are rolled out and Gross Domestic Product forecasts improve, which should benefit corporate profits. But the move could also signal faster-than-expected inflation ahead.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were unchanged, keeping yields at Friday''s 1.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices ducked $1.66 to $61.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices plunged $51.60 to $1,723.80
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