U.S. Stocks Fall in Quiet Trading
August 18 2017 - 02:08PM
Dow Jones News
By Justin Yang and Corrie Driebusch
-- Global stocks down following Spain attacks
-- Haven assets advance
The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned positive in early
afternoon trading Friday, after the blue-chip posted its biggest
decline in three months.
Indexes spent the morning hovering between slight gains and
losses, as a lack of big economic data and corporate earnings
reports contributed to quiet trading Friday morning.
U.S. stocks rose modestly following reports that chief
strategist Steve Bannon was leaving his role at the White House.
Mr. Bannon has been viewed as a controversial figure within the
administration.
The Dow industrials were recently up 32 points, or 0.2%, at
21784. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed
0.5%.
The gains run counter to Thursday, when disappointing earnings,
a terror attack in Barcelona and unfounded speculation about the
resignation of another key adviser in the White House, Gary Cohn,
led to a steep stock selloff. Two White House aides told The Wall
Street Journal that Mr. Cohn hasn't resigned and is not planning to
do so.
"There was a lot of noise yesterday," said Kenny Polcari,
director at brokerage O'Neil Securities. "A lot of that drama isn't
going to price stocks in the long term, but it does cause
short-term movement."
In corporate news, shoe retailer Foot Locker Inc. tumbled 27%
after its earnings early Friday failed to meet analyst expectations
on profit and sales. Ross Stores' shares rose 9.5% after beating
sales expectations in its earnings.
Retailers in the U.S. have been releasing mixed results on
earnings throughout the week.
Agricultural company Deere & Co. shares were down 5.4% after
its sales figures fell short of expectations.
European markets were broadly lower after an assault in
Barcelona and a subsequent attack in the Spanish coastal town of
Cambrils left at least 14 people dead. The Stoxx Europe 600 slid
0.7% while Spain's benchmark IBEX 35 dropped 0.6%.
Shares of European travel companies suffered some of the largest
losses of the day. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA --
one of the biggest decliners in the U. K. -- fell 2%. Airline
shares in Europe tend to endure a short-lived selloff in the wake
of terror attacks as investors assess the potential for a hit to
tourism.
Simmering geopolitical tensions and the Trump administration's
strained relationship with business leaders saw investors shift to
haven assets, boosting gold by 0.9%. The U.S. 10-year Treasury
yield slid to 2.176% Friday from 2.197% Thursday, according to data
from Tradeweb. Yields move inversely to prices. Utilities
companies, viewed as bond proxies for stock investors, were the
best performers in the S&P 500 on Friday.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket
of currencies, was down 0.4%.
In Asia, markets were lower Friday with financial shares among
the region's biggest decliners.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.2%, and has suffered its
largest weekly decline since mid-May. There was added pressure from
the advance of the yen against the dollar, last up 0.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.1%, while Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 narrowed its loss to 0.6%. Korea's Kospi was off
0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.
Ese Erheriene contributed to this article.
Write to Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2017 13:53 ET (17:53 GMT)
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