Once traders return from Monday's Presidents Day holiday, data on the strength of the U.S. consumer will be in focus, with the Commerce Department's monthly retail sales report and earnings results from retail giant Walmart each on tap.
The US stock market finished session lower on Friday, 29 January 2021, as risk aversion selloff triggered in reaction to news that Johnson & Johnson s (JNJ) one-dose coronavirus vaccine appears to be less potent against variants. Meanwhile, the sell-off partly reflected concerns about recent market volatility after Robinhood eased restrictions on certain stocks that have skyrocketed in recent trading.
At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 620.74 points, or 2.03%, to 29,982.62. The S&P 500 index dropped 73.14 points, or 1.93%, to 3,714.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shrank 266.46 points, or 2%, to 13,070.70.
For the week, the Dow closed 3.2% lower, the S&P 500 down 3.3% and Nasdaq Composite off 3.5%. On a monthly basis, the Dow lost 2%, the S&P 500 shed 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7%.
Treasuries Extend Pullback Seen In Previous Session
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the notable pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries saw further downside during trading on Friday.
Bond prices regained some ground after coming under pressure in early trading but remained negative. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.6 basis points to 1.093 percent.
The early weakness among treasuries came as traders continue to react to Thursday s upbeat economic data, including a Commerce Department showing U.S. GDP grew 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter.
The Commerce Department released a separate report this morning showing a much bigger than expected increase in U.S. personal income in the month of December, although the report also showed a modest decrease in personal spending.
U.S. Pending Home Sales Dip More Than Expected In December
A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday showed pending home sales in the U.S. fell by more than expected in the month of December. NAR said its pending home sales index slipped by 0.3 percent to 125.5 in December after tumbling by 2.5 percent to 125.9 in November. Economists had expected the index to edge down by 0.1 percent.
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U.S. Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly Climb 0.7% In December
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly rebounded in the month of December, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday.
NAR said existing home sales climbed by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 6.76 million in December after tumbling by 2.2 percent to a revised rate of 6.71 million in November.
The rebound surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to slump by 2.1 percent to a rate of 6.55 million from the 6.69 million originally reported for the previous month.
With the unexpected monthly increase, existing home sales in December were up by 22.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago.