Stocks retreated on Friday, closing out a turbulent week as Nvidia’s incredible run took a breather.
The S&P 500 lost 0.65% to 5,123.69, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.16% to 16,085.11. Both swung into negative territory after rising to new all-time highs earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average relinquished 68.66 points, or 0.18%, to end at 38,722.69.
All three major indexes finished the choppy week lower. The broad S&P 500 pulled back by 0.26% this week, while the blue-chip Dow and tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.93% and 1.17%, respectively. That decline marked the worst week for the 30-stock Dow since October.
Stocks were hurt Friday as an earlier rally in Nvidia lost steam. The artificial intelligence darling finished down more than 5% in its worst session since late May.
Despite that breather, Nvidia shares still finished up more than 6% on the week. It’s part of a monster rally that has added more than $1 trillion to the stock’s market cap in just the new year alone.
Though Nvidia dragged on tech, Apple rose 1% in Friday trading. With that gain, the mega-cap stock snapped its longest losing streak since early 2022 at seven days. But shares were still down nearly 5% on the week, making it the worst performer in the 30-stock Dow.
Investors scrutiniSed the February labor data, which revealed a higher-than-expected increase of 275,000 jobs compared to the estimated 198,000, suggesting a strong economy.
However, conflicting signals emerged with the unexpected rise in the unemployment rate to 3.9%, lighter-than-feared wage growth, and a downward revision of January’s job growth, potentially indicating a cooling inflation rate that might influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rate cuts.
Oil prices experienced a weekly decline due to subdued demand from China and ample global supply, as observed by the International Energy Agency. The West Texas Intermediate contract for April settled down 1.2%, while the Brent contract for May settled down 1.1%, with both U.S. crude and the global benchmark registering losses of 2.45% and 1.8%, respectively, for the week amidst concerns regarding the sustainability of prices without significant Chinese demand recovery.
In the Australian landscape, the Australian market anticipates a 93% probability of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reducing the cash rate in August, with full pricing for a move in September, projecting two quarter-point cuts for the year. Meanwhile, there are indications of a potential shift in Bank of Japan policy away from negative interest rates, as expectations of robust annual wage negotiations grow among policymakers.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.60 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 66.27 US cents.
Commodities
Gold gained 0.94 per cent. Silver lost 0.12 per cent. Copper fell 0.88 per cent. Oil lost 1.17 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.43 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.16 per cent, and Paris closed 0.15 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.23 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.76 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.61 per cent..
On Friday, the Australian share market closed 1.07 per cent higher at 7,846.98.
Ex-dividends
Adairs Limited (ASX:ADH) is paying 5 cents fully franked
Consolidated Ops Gp (ASX:COG) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Coronado Global Res (ASX:CRN) is paying 0.5348 cents fully franked
CSL Limited (ASX:CSL) is paying 182.5713 cents unfranked
Dusk Group (ASX:DSK) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Generation Dev Group (ASX:GDG) is paying 1 cent 50 per cent franked
Joyce Corporation (ASX:JYC) is paying 11 cents fully franked
Naos Ex-50 (ASX:NAC) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Naos Smlcap Com Ltd (ASX:NSC) is paying 1.25 cents fully franked
Perpetual Equity Ltd (ASX:PIC) is paying 4 cents fully franked
Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) is paying 40 cents fully franked
Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW) is paying 23 cents fully franked
Turners Automotive (ASX:TRA) is paying 5.6286 cents 85 per cent franked
Dividends payable
Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG)
Fiducian Group Ltd (ASX:FID)
Infomedia Ltd (ASX:IFM)
Prestal Holdings Ltd (ASX:PTL)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
