S&P 500 in Second-Weekly Loss as Caution Sets in Ahead of Fed Meeting
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 fell Friday, extending its weekly losses for the second-straight week as weakness in material stocks and tech stocks added to investor caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting next week.
The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%, or 166 points, the Nasdaq slumped 0.9%.
Materials stocks continued to add to losses from earlier this week, with mining stocks adding pressure following an ongoing rout in commodities including iron ore.
Freeport-McMoran Copper&Gold (NYSE:FCX), International Flavors&Fragrances (NYSE:IFF), Nucor (NYSE:NUE) led the decline in materials, with the latter down more than 4%
A fall in megacap tech stocks also weighed on the broader market, paced by a decline in Treasury yields.
Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) were in the red.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury climbed to a more than one-week high, underpinned by positive economic data, and expectations the Federal Reserve is set to offer further clues on plans to tighten monetary policy at next week’s meeting.
The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to a reading of 71 in September after falling to 70.3 in August.
“We expect the FOMC to open the door to a possible November taper announcement, conditional on a solid September employment gain,” Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said in a note ahead of the Fed meeting next week.
With the broader market on course for a second-weekly loss, some on Wall Street continue to expect further pressure.
“Investor sentiment getting more bearish after the shallow declines of early September: we remain on guard for further volatility ahead as we make our way through the Sept-Oct window. Watch 4400+ for initial support on the S&P here (around the 50-day MA),” Janney Montgomery Scott said in a note.
In a blow to vaccine stocks, a Food&Drug Administration advisory committee voted 16-2 against a Pfizer-Biotech booster shot for the general public, citing the need for more data. The panel, however, did vote in a favor of an emergency use authorization booster shot for peopled aged 65 and older, and high risk persons.
The final decision. however, will be made by the FDA, though the health watchdog tends to follow the advice of its committee.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) slipped 1%, while BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) slipped 3%. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) ended down 2%.
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