Traders have been cheered by earnings but are still concerned about inflation.Brendan McDermid/Reuters
US stocks experienced a volatile trading session on Friday as bond yields surged and banks reported earnings results.A big miss in December retail sales initially sent the Nasdaq lower before recovering.US retail sales dropped 1.9% in December from the prior month, while economists expected a drop of only 0.1%.Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.December retail sales data, a surge in bond yields, and earnings results from banks sent mixed messages to investors and led to a choppy day of trades on Friday.
US retail sales dropped 1.9% in December from the prior month, well below economists’ expectations for a decline of only 0.1%. The weak results follow November’s print of a 0.2% gain in sales. The weak sales last month came amid the Omicron surge, rising inflation, and an earlier-than-usual holiday shopping season due to logistical concerns.
Meanwhile, the 10-Year US Treasury yield surged from 1.70% to 1.78% on Friday, but tech stocks that have typically been hurt by a rise in yields led the market higher throughout the day.
Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday:
S&P 500: 4,662.82, up 0.08% Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,911.35, down 0.56% (202.27 points)Nasdaq Composite: 14,893.75, up 0.59% Banks kicked off earnings season on Friday, resulting in a 6% and 2% stock price drops for JPMorgan, and Citigroup, respectively. Wells Fargo bucked the trend and jumped 3% on Friday after it reported better-than-expected earnings results.
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Biden’s vaccine mandate for private employers led to a continued decline in COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax.
The bad news keeps rolling in for Peloton, which fell 4% on Friday after it was kicked out of the Nasdaq 100 Index just one year after its inclusion. The connected-fitness company has seen its stock fall 81% from its record high.
Dogecoin prices surged about 11% on Friday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle manufacturer would accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency as a form of payment for certain merchandise.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor is following the lead of Miami’s bitcoin-loving Francisco Suarez and will invest 1% of the city’s reserves in the cryptocurrency.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 2.56% to $84.22 per barrel. Brent crude, oil’s international benchmark, jumped as much as 2.33% to $86.44 per barrel.
Gold fell as much as 0.25% to $1,816.80 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 8 basis points to 1.78%.