US close: S&P 500 higher for a second week even as trader book profits
Wall Street finished slightly lower as traders took profits ahead of the Thanksgiving Day Holiday-shortened week and after two top US central bank officials indicated their support for an interest rate hike, likely in December.
The Dow Jones Industrials finished down by 0.19% or 35.89 points at 18,867.93, alongside the S&P 500 which slipped 0.24% or 5.22 points to 2,181.90 and a decline for the Nasdaq Composite of 0.23% or 12.46 points to end at 5,321.51.
From a sector standpoint, the worst performance was seen in the following industrial groups: Aluminium (-4.49%), Clothing (-3.25%) and Media Agencies (-2.48%).
Despite Friday´s retreat, the S&P finished the week up by 0.8%. capping a 2% rise since the surprise election victory by Donald Trump, while the Russell 2000 benchmark of small caps pushed its winning streak to an eleventh consecutive session, its longest such stretch since 2003.
Speaking overnight, the president of the Federal reserve bank of St.Louis said he was leaning towards a December hike, while his opposite number at the Kansas City Fed, Esther George, said a move to tighten policy was preferrable "sooner rather than later".
"Monetary policy should avoid deliberately stoking the risks that come with overheating the US economy", George said.
In her opinion, the central bank should "slowly raise the federal funds rate".
In corporate news, Abercrombie & Fitch shares plunged 13.76% after the fashion house warned of a challenging fourth quarter.
Third quarter sales fell 6.5% to $821.73m, below expectations of $830.6m, while income was down to $7.88m, or 12 cents per share from $41.89m, or 60 cents last year.
Whereas Foot Locker’s shares rose 0.6% as the shoe retailer beat third quarter expectations. Earnings rose to $157m, or $1.17 a share from $80m, or 57 cents last year, beating forecasts of $1.10.
Salesforce jumped 3.4% after its third-quarter results late on Thursday beat expectations, but Applied Materials slipped 0.49% after it posted lower-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter.
Dow Jones - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.20 1.00%
Boeing Co. (BA) $146.35 0.70%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $111.82 0.58%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.07 0.48%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $120.00 0.46%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.18 0.43%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $160.39 0.37%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $210.35 0.34%
3M Co. (MMM) $172.96 0.11%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $110.06 0.10%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.87 -1.32%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $82.00 -1.29%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $98.24 -1.14%
American Express Co. (AXP) $71.00 -1.09%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $115.36 -1.04%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $51.10 -0.95%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.54 -0.94%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $149.45 -0.88%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $31.48 -0.79%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $40.91 -0.51%
S&P 500 - Risers
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $28.96 6.90%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $68.00 3.77%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $60.93 3.62%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $31.13 3.59%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $77.77 3.43%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $28.26 3.40%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $9.60 2.89%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $44.76 2.64%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $62.36 2.63%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $43.82 2.22%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Gap Inc. (GPS) $25.61 -16.61%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $29.21 -6.26%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $30.42 -4.49%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UA) $30.95 -4.21%
Allergan plc (AGN) $191.78 -4.10%
VF Corp. (VFC) $54.52 -4.08%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $30.52 -4.06%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $38.39 -3.88%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $83.22 -3.86%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $46.49 -3.61%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $68.00 3.77%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $60.93 3.62%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $115.98 1.92%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $76.09 1.09%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $93.36 1.05%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $67.31 0.96%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $46.26 0.94%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $40.09 0.88%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $104.71 0.88%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $98.88 0.84%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $30.52 -4.06%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $38.39 -3.88%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $36.47 -2.90%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $230.81 -2.54%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $119.85 -2.54%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $37.77 -2.18%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $76.90 -1.99%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $265.74 -1.94%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $89.44 -1.93%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $185.02 -1.93%