Stocks Ease Despite Benign Inflation Data, Bitcoin Stages Comeback: What’s Driving Markets Friday?

From Nasdaq:

Stock indices were mixed during midday trading in New York as the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index held steady at 2.6% year-on-year and personal spending grew by 0.7% month-over-month, exceeding economist projections.

Tech stocks lagged behind, two-year Treasury yields rose to 4.35%, and although major indices have been on a winning streak, Bitcoin surged by 4.9% amidst a report of the Bitcoin network reaching 1 million active BTC addresses.

Performance in major indices, ETFs showed the Dow Jones up 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.1%, the Russell 2000 down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5%. The Health Care Select Sector Fund outperformed, up 0.6%, while the Technology Select Sector Fund underperformed, down 1.2%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) eased 0.15% to $487.32, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher to $380.77, and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust fell 0.6% to $424.06, according to Benzinga Pro data. Semiconductors and semiconductor companies experienced declines.

Intel Corp. fell over 12%, other semiconductor companies experienced a decline of approximately 2% each, and the American Express Company rose 6% to $200 per share, reaching a new all-time high, even though it did not meet earnings estimates last quarter. Other companies reacting to earnings included Visa Inc., T-Mobile US Inc, Comcast Corp., Blackstone Inc., and NextEra Energy Inc.

Danaher Corp. rose 4.2% ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report scheduled for early next week. Tesla should consider adding more detail about its cash flow and liquidity to provide additional insights to investors. Tesla could benefit from becoming more transparent about its financials.

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