U.S. stocks ended mostly lower on Friday as investors waited for the outcome of the high-stakes trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials scheduled to be held over the weekend in Switzerland.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) shed 0.3% or 119.07 points, to end at 41,249.38 points.
The S&P 500 declined less than 0.1% or 4.03 points to close at 5,659.91 points. Healthcare, consumer staples and communication services stocks were the worst performers.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) lost 1.1%, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) declined 0.6%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) fell 0.5%. Six of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session little changed, gaining 0.78 points to end at 17,928.92 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.58% to 21.90. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.35-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favored declining issues. A total of 16.03 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 16.47 billion.
Investors Look Forward to U.S.-China Trade Talks
Stocks finished slightly lower on Friday as investors remained hesitant to make bold moves ahead of the scheduled U.S.-China trade talks in Switzerland over the weekend. Investors are hopeful about a positive outcome after the U.S. and the UK reached a preliminary trade deal earlier in the week.
Investors believe the U.S.-U.K. trade deal will open the gates for more trade pacts in the coming days. However, the 10% baseline tariff on all U.K. goods is likely to apply to the other nations also.
Stocks swung between gains and losses on Friday after President Donald Trump said that China should open its market to the U.S. and that 80% tariffs on Chinese goods “seems right.” The current tariff on Chinese imports stands at 145% and investors are hopeful that it will come down substantially once a trade deal is reached between the two countries over the weekend.
Markets have been volatile since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all the trading partners of the United States. However, markets have rebounded in the past couple of weeks after the tariffs were temporarily paused for 90 days.
Tech stocks gained on Friday, with shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) ending 0.5% higher. Shares of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) rose 0.1%. Microsoft has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
No major economic data was released on Friday.
Weekly Roundup
For the week, the Dow ended 0.2% lower, while the S&P 500 lost 0.5%. The Nasdaq finished 0.3% lower for the week.
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