Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Friday but the Dow Jones was still on track to register its eighth-consecutive losing week despite news that China had cut its key mortgage interest rate bolstering sentiment.
As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.10% at 31,284.19, while the S&P 500 was 0.27% firmer at 3,911.47, and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.26% stronger at 11,418.66.
The Dow opened 31.06 points higher on Friday, taking a small bite out of losses recorded in the previous session as softer-than-expected earnings from big-name retailers continued to weigh on sentiment.
Stocks got a slight boost following news that China had cut its key benchmark mortgage interest rate overnight after Covid-related shutdowns pounded the country’s economy.
The People’s Bank of China cut its five-year loan prime rate, its mortgage reference rate, by a bigger-than-expected 15 basis points, to 4.45%, and left the one-year rate unchanged at 3.7%. Analysts had been expecting a five basis points reduction across both tenures.
In the corporate space, sportswear retailer Foot Locker posted first-quarter earnings of $133.0m ahead of the bell, beating Wall Street expectations, while revenues of $2.17bn fell short of consensus estimates.
No major data points were slated for release on Friday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones – Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $159.33 2.40%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $108.89 2.30%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $170.46 2.16%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $94.07 2.15%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $140.27 2.13%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $258.26 2.02%
Visa Inc. (V) $200.72 1.70%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $42.41 1.65%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $484.99 1.35%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $120.18 0.93%
Dow Jones – Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $123.57 -2.81%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $202.40 -2.11%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $285.42 -0.81%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $129.07 -0.46%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $41.85 -0.38%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $244.07 -0.29%
American Express Co. (AXP) $153.85 -0.10%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $230.94 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
3M Co. (MMM) $147.13 0.11%
S&P 500 – Risers
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $31.94 5.43%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $287.18 4.37%
VF Corp. (VFC) $46.45 4.12%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $52.56 3.78%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $296.74 3.66%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $37.25 3.30%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $71.76 3.24%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $196.92 2.94%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $27.67 2.94%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $405.00 2.69%
S&P 500 – Fallers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $71.60 -22.76%
Deere & Co. (DE) $331.32 -9.13%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $41.60 -7.64%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $188.66 -6.29%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $127.69 -5.81%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $14.18 -5.73%
TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) $58.03 -5.50%
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $1,787.97 -5.37%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $187.11 -4.57%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $21.67 -4.24%
Nasdaq 100 – Risers
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $99.07 3.90%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $829.53 3.49%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $21.69 3.38%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $169.85 3.24%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $196.92 2.94%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $123.88 2.71%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $405.00 2.69%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $374.22 2.57%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $15.30 2.55%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $54.03 2.38%
Nasdaq 100 – Fallers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $71.60 -22.76%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $127.69 -5.81%
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $582.73 -3.13%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $108.18 -2.32%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $344.40 -1.97%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $85.16 -1.84%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $81.07 -1.74%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $168.53 -1.58%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $80.40 -1.25%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $702.55 -0.97%
