Highlights
Major stock indexes added to the week's gains even as the broad market was slightly negative Friday as the market hoped for a tentative peace deal with Iran. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.7 percent while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both rose 0.2 percent. WTI crude oil futures, bond yields and the dollar all declined.
Most sectors weakened Friday except technology and financials. Many big technology shares slipped after advancing this week. On the other hand, positive Dell results lifted the shares and other tech hardware, and bolstered the AI narrative that has underpinned the market lately. Software advanced too with Microsoft among the day's winners.
Hawkish comments from Federal Reserve were a market negative, as were economic data suggesting weakening consumer spending prospects, including much lower than expected personal income figures for April. Those reports and weaker results from some retail-oriented stocks including Gap and Costco weighed on consumer stocks generally.
Definition
Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.
Description
Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.