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Futures tied to the major U.S. stock indexes fell early Friday morning with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set to retreat from records set in the earlier session.
Dow Jones Industrial average futures dropped 283 points, or 0.9%, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.8%. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 each reached record closing highs on Thursday. The Dow set a record earlier in the week.
There was no one clear reason for the pullback but here’s what traders were watching:
- Shares of IBM fell more than 7% in premarket trading after the company reported fourth-quarter sales below where analysts were expecting. Revenue fell 6% on an annualized basis, the fourth consecutive quarter of declines.
- Intel shares retreated 4% following a 6% pop on Thursday after it released better-than-expected earnings just before the closing bell.
- A growing number of Republicans have expressed doubts over the need for another stimulus bill, especially one with a price tag of $1.9 trillion proposed by President Joe Biden.
- With the S&P 500 up another 2% this year and up 16% over the last 12 months, some investors believe the market may be getting ahead of itself with possible hiccups possible this year with the vaccine rollout and economic reopening.
“The political reality of Washington is starting to impact markets, and it’s becoming more unclear when Democrats’ ambitious stimulus goals will become law,” said Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report.
This week, hopes for a robust earnings season from the country’s largest communications and tech stocks have kept the mega-cap stocks trending upward, and the major indexes near records, during the holiday-shortened week.
Apple and Facebook have risen 7.7% and 8.6%, respectively, this week ahead of their quarterly results, while Microsoft has gained 5.8%.
The S&P 500 is up 2.3% for the week so far. The Dow is up 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite is up 4%.
Wall Street’s eyes are still turned toward Washington as new President Joe Biden works to lay the early foundation of his Covid-19 and economic recovery agenda.
Meanwhile, the Senate is expected on Friday to overwhelmingly confirm former Fed Chair Janet Yellen as Biden’s Treasury secretary. If confirmed, she would be the first woman to lead the department.
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