Yahoo Finance Stock Market News for Jun 24, 2024
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Friday following decline in share prices of major technology stocks. Market participants were also weighing a few mixed economic data. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended in negative territory while the Dow finished in positive zone. For the week as a whole, these three indexes ended in green.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up less than 0.1% to close at 39.150.33. 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, 11 in negative zone, while one remained unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 17,689.36, declining 0.2% due to weak performance by U.S. technology behemoths.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to finish at 5,464,62. Five out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory, while six in negative zone. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 0.6% and 0.8%%, respectively. On the other hand, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) dropped 0.6% each.
The primary stock for the decline of both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite was NVIDIA Corp. NVDA. The stock price of this undisputed global leader of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) space tumbled 3.2%. Share price of NVIDIA fell for the second consecutive day. Yet the stock price is up more than 155% year to date. NVIDIA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.6% to 13.20. A total of 17.68 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12.05 billion. Trading volumes was highest since Mar 15. This was due to the triple witching — the expiration of stock options, stock index options and stock index futures options. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.03-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.21-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
Economic Data
The National Association of REALTORS reported that the existing home sales in May dipped 0.7% month over month to 4.11 million units in May from 4.14 million units in April. The consensus estimate was 4.12 million units. Year over year, existing home sales decreased 2.8% in May. The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was $419,300, climbed 5.8% year over year. This marked the highest price ever recorded and 11 straight months of year over year price increase.
The S&P Global Flash U.S. PMI Composite Index edged up to 54.6 in June from 54.5 in May. This was the highest monthly reading since April 2022. Notably, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in economic activities.
Flash U.S. Services Business Activity Index came in at 55.1 in June compared with 54.8 in May, marking the highest level in 26 months. Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI came in at 51.7 in June compared with 51.3 in May, reflecting a 3-month high.
Conference Board reported that the Leading Economic index (also known as leading indicators) of the U.S. economy decreased by 0.5% in May following a 0.6% drop in April. The consensus estimate was for a decline of 0.3%. However, over the period of last six-month, leading indicators fell by 2% compared with a decline of 3.4% in the previous six-month period.
Weekly Roundup
Last week was a positive one for Wall Street. The Dow posted a gain of 1.44%, reflecting its best week since mid-May. The S&P 500 was up 0.61%, while the Nasdaq Composite was managed to gain a mere 0.003%. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite recorded the straight weeks of advances. Investors remained hopeful that the Fed will at least cutting the benchmark interest rate by this year-end. Some experts are also expecting two rate cuts of 25 basis points each in 2024.
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