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Stocks sell off to end week, while gold and bonds gain
21-Feb-20 16:15 ET
Dow -227.57 at 28992.32, Nasdaq -174.37 at 9576.63, S&P -35.48 at 3337.75

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] U.S. stocks sold off to end the week, while investors continued to buy less risky assets, amid pestering concerns about the coronavirus and valuation. The Nasdaq Composite led the retreat with a 1.8% decline, followed by the S&P 500 (-1.1%), Russell 2000 (-1.0%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.8%).

Reported cases of the coronavirus continued to climb in China, but that wasn't new information for the market -- or investors who were buying yesterday's dip. Arguably, the bigger story was the continued flight-to-safety in gold ($1648.90/ozt, +28.90, +1.8%) and U.S. Treasuries (30-yr yield set a new all-time low at 1.89%).

The defensive positioning was attributed not only to the coronavirus fostering growth concerns, but also to the record run in U.S. stocks despite the coronavirus. The latter bolstered calls that the market had gotten overextended and was due for a pullback. The Markit flash services PMI for February, which fell into contraction territory, didn't help sentiment, either.

The top-weighted S&P 500 information technology sector (-2.3%) was today's outright laggard amid broad-based selling. The gains in the real estate (+0.4%) and consumer staples (+0.3%) sectors reflected the market's defensive posture and helped limit the broader decline.

Apple (AAPL 313.05, -7.25, -2.3%), Amazon (AMZN 2095.97, -57.13, -2.7%), Alphabet (GOOG 1485.11, -33.04, -2.2%), and Microsoft (MSFT 178.59, -5.83, -3.2%) -- four widely-held, and crowded, stocks largely responsible for the market's record run -- dropped more than 2% on Friday.

Deere (DE 177.43, +11.60, +7.0%) was among the few bright spots in the market after the company reported solid quarterly results.

U.S. Treasuries, as previously stated, continued to post gains. The 2-yr yield declined four basis points to 1.35%, and the 10-yr yield declined five basis points to 1.47%. The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.5% to 99.32. WTI crude declined 0.7%, or $0.40, to $53.34/bbl.

Reviewing Friday's economic data, which featured the Existing Home Sales report for January:

Existing home sales decreased 1.3% m/m in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million units (Briefing.com consensus 5.42 million) from a downwardly revised 5.53 million (from 5.54 million) in December. Total sales were up 9.6% year-over-year.
The key takeaway from the report is that the housing inventory for January was at its lowest level since 1999, demonstrating that there are serious inventory constraints in the existing home sales market, which is driving up prices and underscoring the importance of mortgage rates staying low for affordability purposes.

Investors will not receive any notable economic data on Monday.

Nasdaq Composite +6.7% YTD
S&P 500 +3.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.6% YTD
Russell 2000 +0.6% YTD

Market Snapshot
Dow 28992.32 -227.57 (-0.78%)
Nasdaq 9576.63 -174.37 (-1.79%)
SP 500 3337.75 -35.48 (-1.05%)
10-yr Note +27/32 1.469
NYSE Adv 852 Dec 1999 Vol 1.1 bln
Nasdaq Adv 985 Dec 2161 Vol 2.7 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services
Weak: Consumer Staples, Real Estate, Health Care

Moving the Market

-- Stocks sell off amid coronavirus and valuation concerns

-- Weakness in the cyclical sectors, especially information technology; relative strength in bond proxies

-- U.S. Treasuries and gold post decent gains; 30-yr yield sets new all-time low (1.89%)

WTI crude closes lower but still ends week noticeably higher
21-Feb-20 15:25 ET
Dow -268.91 at 28950.98, Nasdaq -195.71 at 9555.29, S&P -39.92 at 3333.31

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is down 1.2% and is on pace to end the week with a loss greater than 1.4%.

One last look inside the benchmark index shows eight of the 11 sectors trading in the red. The top-weighted information technology sector (-2.6%) is today's outright laggard amid broad-based selling, while the consumer staples (+0.3%), real estate (+0.3%), and utilities (+0.2%) sectors trade higher.

WTI crude declined 0.7%, or $0.40, to $53.34/bbl but still finished the week up 2.8%.