Closing Stock Market Summary
Today's session felt similar to other sessions this week on below average volume at the NYSE. That is to say that early gains faded due in part to a lack of conviction from buyers. There wasn't a lot of conviction from sellers either in today's trade. Decliners had a fractional lead over advancers at both the NYSE and at the Nasdaq.
The price action left the S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%), and Russell 2000 (-0.1%) with a fifth consecutive loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain.
Weakness in some heavily-weighted components like Microsoft (MSFT 404.33, -7.51, -1.8%), Amazon.com (AMZN 179.17, -2.11, -1.2%), and Tesla (TSLA 149.90, -5.55, -3.6%), which hit a new 52-week low today, had a disproportionate influence on index performance.
Semiconductor shares also had a weak showing. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) dropped 1.7% after TSMC (TSM 132.27, -6.76, -4.9%) reported better than expected earnings, but warned that the chip industry is enduring a more gradual recovery than expected.
Losses in some of the aforementioned names contributed to the underperformance of the S&P 500 information technology (-0.9%) and consumer discretionary (-0.7%) sectors. Meanwhile, the communication services sector saw the largest gain, up 0.7%.
Some mixed responses to earnings news since yesterday's close also contributed to the muted index level price action. Genuine Parts (GPC 160.23, +16.16, +11.2%) and Elevance Health (ELV 525.19, +16.22, +3.2%) were winning standouts after reporting earnings while Las Vegas Sands (LVS 45.88, -4.35, -8.9%) and Equifax (EFX 217.15, -20.17, -8.5%) logged the biggest declines among S&P 500 constituents after their quarterly results.
Rising market rates also acted as a limiting factor for stocks. The 10-yr note yield rose six basis points to 4.65% and the 2-yr note yield settled six basis points higher at 4.65%. This price action was partially in response to the release of the weekly jobless claims report, which showed no change from last week's level and a better-than-expected Philadelphia Fed survey for April.
- S&P 500:+5.1% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: +3.9% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: +1.6% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.2% YTD
- Russell 2000: -4.2% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Weekly Initial Claims 212K (consensus 215K); Prior was revised to 212K from 211K; Weekly Continuing Claims 1.812 mln; Prior was revised to 1.810 mln from 1.817 mln
- The key takeaway from the report remains the low initial claims number (a leading indicator), which continues to be indicative of a solid labor market that portends good growth dynamics for the economy.
- April Philadelphia Fed Index 15.5 (consensus 0.0); Prior 3.2
- March Existing Home Sales 4.19 mln (consensus 4.20 mln); Prior 4.38 mln
- The key takeaway from the report is that sales activity was weak at the start of the spring selling season, as high prices, high mortgage rates, and low inventory got in the way of more robust selling activity.
- March Leading Indicators -0.3% (consensus -0.1%); Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%
Separately, there is no US economic data of note tomorrow.