U.S. stocks edged about 0.4 percent lower on Friday as investors booked profits after a five-day rally and reset positions ahead of the earning season, which will begin with big Wall Street banks next week.
The rally – built on optimism over China-U.S. trade talks, strong U.S. jobs data and the Federal Reserve`s promise of patience with interest rate hikes – added 6 percent to the S&P 500 <.spx>, lifting it about 10 percent from the 20-month low it hit around Christmas.
"We`re viewing today a little bit of a breather. The fact that we`ve been up so many days in a row, it`s not surprising to see a little bit of a break," said Chad Oviatt, director of investment management at Huntington Private Bank in Columbus, Ohio.
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The S&P financial index <.spsy> was trading flat, shrugging off earlier losses. Citigroup Inc
"Most investors are going to be gauging them (banks) on a little bit of a broader economic base than normal, in that interest rates and Fed are going to have an impact," said Oviatt.
The consumer staples <.splrcs> and real estate sectors <.splrcr> logged slight gains. Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the energy index`s <.spny> 0.9 percent fall as oil prices
The S&P 500 companies on average are estimated to have posted 14.5 percent growth in fourth-quarter profit, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
That is lower than the 20.1 percent growth estimated three months back as analyst cut forecasts after warnings from marquee companies, including Apple Inc
General Motors
At 1:13 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.dji> was down 100.19 points, or 0.42 percent, at 23,901.73, the S&P 500 <.spx> was down 8.71 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,587.93 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> was down 33.11 points, or 0.47 percent, at 6,952.96.
Technology stocks <.splrct>, which led the recent surge, fell 0.5 percent as Microsoft Corp
Netflix Inc
Activision Blizzard Inc
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs or lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and eight new lows.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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