After moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. While the Dow gave back ground, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw further upside, closing higher for the third straight day.

The major averages finished the choppy trading day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. The Dow slid 285.30 points or 0.6 percent to 49,098.71, but the S&P 500 (SPI:SP500) inched up 2.26 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,915.61 and the Nasdaq rose 65.22 points or 0.3 percent to 23,501.24.

For the holiday-shortened week, the major averages all moved to the downside. The Nasdaq edged down by 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow fell by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

The mixed performance on the day came as traders kept an eye on the latest geopolitical developments, with easing concerns about tensions over Greenland being replaced by renewed worries about a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran.

After President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force to acquire Greenland and backed off tariff threats against Europe, he has now apparently shifted his attention back to Iran.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that a U.S. “armada” is heading toward the Middle East.

“We’re watching Iran,” Trump said. “You know we have a lot of ships going in that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction and we’ll see what happens.”

Trump had previously backed down from threats of military strikes against Iran over its crackdown on widespread protests.

In U.S. economic news, the University of Michigan released a report showing a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment contributing to the subsequent rebound.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for January was upwardly revised to 56.4 from a preliminary reading of 54.0. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.

With the unexpected upward revision, the consumer sentiment index is well above the December reading of 52.9.

Sector News

Software stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index up by 2.2 percent.

A continued surge by the price of gold also contributed to considerable strength among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

On the other hand, computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index down by 2.9 percent.

Banking and housing stocks also saw considerable weakness, with the KBW Bank Index and the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index slumping by 2.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s hang Seng Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day narrowly mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both edged down by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction on the day before eventually closing slightly higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.0 basis points to 4.239 percent.

Looking Ahead

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates at its monetary policy next week, traders are still likely to keep a close eye on the accompanying statement for clues about future rate cuts.

Next week’s trading may also be impacted by reaction to earnings news from big-name companies like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

SOURCE: RTTNEWS

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