US Stocks Waver, Tech Outperforms As September Inflation Data Solidifies Interest Rate Hold; Oil Giants Fall: What's Driving Markets Friday?

It’s a mixed Friday on Wall Street, with tech investors cheering stellar earnings from Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and an in-line personal consumption expenditure inflation rate, while bears continued to weigh on the broader stock market.

Economists perceived the latest data on the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge as a favorable reading that will convince the Fed to keep rates unchanged next week.

Ford Motor Co F dropped approximately 10% after falling short of quarterly estimates and revising its guidance due to the UAW strike. Oil giants reporting Friday — including Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM and Chevron Corp. CVX — fell 2.2% and 5.6%, respectively, after disappointing results.

Cues From Friday’s Trading:

The S&P 500 experienced a 0.4% decline, marking its eighth session of losses out of the last nine and a 2.5% decrease for the week. The Nasdaq 100 saw a 0.5% increase but remained 2.6% lower for the week, while the Dow tumbled 0.8%, down 1.8% for the week. Small caps in the Russell 2000 also fell by 1%, extending their weekly losses to 2.5%.

US Index Performance On Friday

Friday’s Trading In Major US Equity ETFs

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.5% lower to $410.63.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA fell 0.9% to $324.77. 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rose 0.4% to $345.10, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Looking at S&P 500 sector ETFs:

• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE was the underperformer, down 2.4%.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY rose the most, up by 1.4%, aided by the strong outperformance of Amazon.

Latest Economic Data:

In September 2023, personal expenditures increased by 0.7% compared to the previous month, surpassing market predictions of a 0.5% uptick.

Personal income edged up by 0.3% from the prior month in September, slightly below the market’s expected 0.4% rise, following a 0.4% increase in August.

The annual PCE inflation rate remained stable at 3.4% in September, aligning with forecasts and mirroring the previous month’s rate of 3.4% after downward revisions. On a monthly basis, the index for personal consumption expenditure prices rose by 0.4%, matching the August figure and surpassing market expectations of 0.3%.

The annual core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, eased to 3.7%. This marked the lowest reading since May 2021, aligning with expectations and following a downwardly revised 3.8% rate in August. The monthly rate, however, reached a four-month high of 0.3%, up from 0.1% in August, in line with expectations.

The consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan was revised higher Friday to 63.8 in October, up from a preliminary reading of 63. Nonetheless, this indicated a significant decline from the previous month’s level of 68.1, reaching the lowest point since May.

Interestingly, inflation expectations in the nation, as measured by the Michigan inflation expectations, increased to a five-month high of 4.2% in October, up from 3.2% in the previous month and surpassing the preliminary estimate of 3.8%.

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Stocks In Focus:

• DexCom, Inc. DXCM rallied over 10% following the release of its quarterly results.
• Intel Corp. INTC was up 10% on a Q3 earnings beat and upbeat outlook.
• Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH tumbled over 13% on its bleak forecast.
• Capital One Financial Corp. COF rose nearly 10% following Q3 results.
• Charter Communications, Inc. CHTR fell 9% on disappointing results.

Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil rose 1.2%, with a barrel of WTI-grade crude trading at $84.23. The United States Oil Fund ETF USO was 1.3% higher to $77.86.  

Treasury yields were flat, with the 10-year yield up by 2 basis points to 4.87% and the 30-year yield up by 5 basis points to 5.04%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was 0.4% lower for the day. 

The dollar fell, with the U.S. dollar index, which is tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, was down 0.2%. The EUR/USD pair, which is tracked by the Invesco CurrecyShares Euro Currency Trust FXE, was 0.1% higher to 1.0568.

European equity indices had a negative session. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF  FEZ fell 0.9%. 

Gold edged 0.1% up to $1,987/oz, while silver held steady at $22.76. Bitcoin BTC/USD was 1.2% lower to $33,737.

Staff writer Piero Cingari updated this report midday Friday. 

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