US close: Wall Street finishes off lows going into holiday-shortened week
US stocks finished on a mixed note going into the holiday-shortened Thanksgiving week, as investors mulled over the latest developments in Sino-US relations and remarks from top Fed officials, even as disappointing earnings from chip maker Nvidia weighed on investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.49% or 123.95 points to 25,413.22, while the S&P 500 reversed early losses to finish higher by 0.22% or 6.07 points at 2,736.27.
A drop in shares of chip-maker Nvidia however hobbled the Nasdaq Composite, which dipped by 0.15% or 11.16 points to 7,247.87, although it too ended well-off its worst levels of the session.
From a sector standpoint, the best performing areas of the market were: Home Construction (3.05%), Mobile Telecommunications (1.89%), Residential REITs (1.69%), Durable Household Products (1.57%) and Gold Mining (1.55%).
Overnight, US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, moved to temper expectations around the meeting between the US President and China's leader that was scheduled for the end of the month, reportedly saying that the most that could be expected to come out of that encounter was a framework for an understanding, but not a complete trade deal.
But later in the day, Donald Trump reportedly said that China had sent a "large" list of goods that it was willing to compromise on, although there remained "four or five big things" which had been left out.
"I think we'll have a deal. We'll find out very soon," he added, going on to explain that the US would likely also be able to obtain concesions on those four of five things.
Significantly too, in remarks to broadcaster CNBC, Federal Reserve vice-chairman, Richard Clarida, said that benchmark short-term interest rates in the US were getting closer to 'neutral' "by some estimates" and that it was now time to turn more "data dependent".
In parallel, as of Friday evening, and according to the CME's Fed Watch tool, the odds of a 25 basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Open Market Committee, when it next met in December, were continuing to slip and at last count stood at 68.9%.
The yield on the two-year US Treasury note meanwhile was five basis points lower to 2.80%.
On the corporate front, Nvidia crashed 18.76% after its third-quarter earnings missed on revenues for a fourth consecutive quarter.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Cult, US-listed stock Nvidia, a firm often bracketed with the better-known FAANG stocks, has blown a massive fuse overnight and left growth-seeking momentum investors in an invidious position.
"The leading manufacturer of silicon chips has issued a big profit warning for the final quarter of its financial year (the three months to the end of January), citing indigestion in the video consoles market and also a slowdown in demand from makers of Bitcoin mining equipment.
"As a result, a stunning run of increases in quarterly sales and profits is about to come to a crashing end, with founder and chief executive Jensen Huang forecasting a 7% year-on-year drop in sales and a 28% year-on-year plunge in operating profit for the fourth quarter."
Elsewhere, Williams-Sonoma was down 11.23% in early trade after the retailer's third-quarter revenues missed expectations, while department store chain Nordstrom was down 13.66% after saying in its quarterly earnings that it wrote down $72m in credit card refunds to customers who were incorrectly charged higher interest rates.
To the upside, PG&E shares surged 37.54% at the bell following a report that a regulatory official told investors the agency does not want the utility to go into bankruptcy if it's found to have been responsible for this month's wildfire in northern California.
Sonos rallied 9.04% early on as the consumer electronics company's fourth-quarter earnings impressed investors.
Intel was was also up 1.50% after its board approved a $15bn share buyback, while Viacom added 3.64% following the release of its fourth-quarter numbers.
In economic news, according to the Department of Commerce, industrial production grew at a 0.1% month-on-month clip in October (consensus: 0.2%), driven a continued strong growth in the production of business equipment, which rose by 0.8% versus September, while that of the construction sector was 0.6%.
Commenting on Friday's numbers on industrial production, Mickey Levy at Berenberg Capital Markets said: "[...] We expect solid domestic fundamentals to continue propelling business investment forward, but mounting risks are worth highlighting going into 2019: 1) stronger U.S. dollar that reduces the global advantage of U.S.-manufactured goods; 2) sharply lower oil prices that weigh on oil and gas production, and supporting industries (i.e., 2015-2016); and 3) slower global growth."
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $128.67 2.54%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $109.99 2.48%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $271.33 2.29%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $187.59 2.03%
3M Co. (MMM) $209.09 1.94%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $60.21 1.90%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $119.06 1.80%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.06 1.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.83 1.50%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $43.51 1.40%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $97.71 -1.86%
Boeing Co. (BA) $335.95 -1.65%
Visa Inc. (V) $140.17 -1.22%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $46.35 -0.90%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $202.12 -0.80%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $116.18 -0.79%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $177.02 -0.19%
American Express Co. (AXP) $109.46 -0.13%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $121.57 0.14%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $82.52 0.28%
S&P 500 - Risers
Edison International (EIX) $54.45 15.38%
Newell Brands Inc (NWL) $21.68 5.19%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $51.17 4.77%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $3.92 4.53%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $71.89 4.38%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $62.58 4.25%
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) $130.19 4.16%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $133.02 3.91%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $95.43 3.86%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $18.17 3.83%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $164.43 -18.76%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $50.93 -16.64%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.39 -5.93%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $50.94 -4.89%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $14.92 -4.85%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $12.69 -4.80%
PG&E Corp. (PCG) $24.40 -4.65%
Navient Corporation (NAVI) $12.16 -4.63%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $72.49 -4.37%
L Brands Inc (LB) $35.28 -4.21%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $328.54 3.16%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $96.90 2.60%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $70.33 2.42%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $90.54 2.29%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $66.51 2.28%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $352.60 1.91%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $42.11 1.86%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $354.31 1.68%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $69.14 1.56%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.83 1.50%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $164.43 -18.76%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $50.94 -4.89%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $23.05 -4.75%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $168.99 -4.41%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $139.53 -3.00%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $36.75 -2.83%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $85.97 -2.58%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $116.95 -2.34%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $85.06 -1.94%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $23.82 -1.93%