US stocks closed Friday flat to softer as mid-week euphoria over a rate hike fizzled out, and so did the so-called Trump rally.
Having started firmer, the S&P 500 market bellwether ended down 0.1% on the day at 2378 and just seven points higher than where it began the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 0.1% lower to 20,914, unable this week to regain the record 21,000 level it marked on March 1, and ended just 15 points higher than where it started the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished unchanged on the day at 5901 and 38 points higher than the start of this week.
After a succession of record highs since the November presidential election, there is increasing evidence that Wall Street stocks are reaching a ceiling, if not making a wholesale drop. Each new record high is becoming harder to secure than the previous as momentum is seen by analysts to be waning.
Within the benchmark S&P 500, there was a pull-back by “Trump trade” stocks, as investors left behind the financial sector, which has stood to benefit most from the new president’s policies, in favour of so-called haven assets such as utility stocks, which offer juicy dividends, and US Treasuries.
Moreover, sectors like healthcare had a scare this week over plans to cut $18bn from the US budget according to proposals from the Trump Administration.
With no more details about tax cutsinfrastructurere spending, and an embarrassing second legal defeat for the president’s much-touted travel ban which Trump has declared to be crucial for national security, it hasn’t been such a brilliant week.
It fell to Trump’s political adversary central banker Janet Yellen to excite the markets, where little else this week did.
Healthcare stock Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was the S&P 500 top faller, down 6.4% to $168.61 after results from a study of its cholesterol drug Repatha disappointed investors.
On the flipside, PDF inventor Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) surged to one of the biggest gains in the index after reporting stronger revenue and earnings for its latest quarter than analysts expected. It jumped $4.66, or 3.8%, to $127.01
Jeweler Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) sparkled after it also reported better profit than analysts expected for its latest quarter. Strong demand in China and Japan helped it to offset flagging sales at home. Its stock rose $2.44, or 2.7%, to $92.42.
The better performance came from smaller stocks. The S&P Midcap 400 closed up 0.2% at 1731. On the week it rose by 21 points. The top gainer on Friday was Sprouts Farmers Mark (NASDAQ:SFM) up 5.5% to $22.02.
The S&P Smallcap 600 ended up 0.7% - as though nothing much happened to other tickers – at 849. On the week it was 19 points higher. While the bigger tickers had started the session higher and then fell, the S&P 600 opened weaker and then rose. The top gainer was Tidewater Inc (NYSE:TDW) up 13.1% to $0.95 after receiving a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm.
Midsession
US stocks gave back initial gains to trade flat midsession on Friday.
The S&P 500 was flat at 2381, so was the Dow at 20,939. The Nasdaq managed to eke out 0.1% gains to 5905.
The riser on the S&P 500 was PDF inventor Adobe Systems Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) up 4.7% to $128.09 after beating first quarter earnings expectations.
The S&P Midcap 400 was able to muster some upside and was up 0.2% to 1730 and led by Sprouts Farmers Mark (NASDAQ:SFM) up 3.6% to $21.63 after the grocer’s Buy recommendation was reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada overnight.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was up 0.2% at 845 and led by Futurefuel Corp (NYSE:FF) up 8.6% to $14.40 after its overnight full year earnings.
Pre-Open
US stocks are set to open firmer on Friday, repairing some of the downside endured the previous session on a healthcare scare for the US budget, but finding upside a struggle after the rally triggered by the Federal Reserve’s dovish comments this week lost some of its impetus.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are seen firmer while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is see as the outperformer with a 0.2% gain.
President Donald Trump meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House for the first time on Friday. The meeting is likely to be less cordial than the hand extended to UK premier Theresa May last month. Merkel is a forceful advocate for free trade and international cooperation, while Trump campaigned on an "America first" platform.
Trump has also accused the German chancellor of "ruining Germany" by welcoming Syrian refugees. More recently, his senior adviser said Germany was "exploiting" the euro.
Meanwhile, in something akin to a school exchange, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was attending his first G20 meeting Friday. The two-day summit in Germany is a chance for leaders from the world's largest economies to hear directly from the Trump administration.
Blending into the upside for the market, jeweler Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) shares were 4.4% higher at $93.97 pre-market after it beat fourth quarter earnings forecasts.