Stocks capped a listless day of trading Friday with slight gains for the major stock indexes, closing out a quiet week on Wall Street highlighted by a batch of mostly mixed corporate earnings reports.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite all gained 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses for most of the day. The indexes each posted a slight loss for the week.
Health care companies and a range of consumer product makers gained ground, tempering losses in banks, technology stocks and elsewhere. Truist Financial and KeyCorp, two of the larger regional banks, were among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500. Truist fell 6% and KeyCorp ended 3.7% lower.
Bond yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates and other loans, rose to 3.56% from 3.54% late Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose to 4.17% from 4.16% late Thursday.
Trading was muted as investors focused on the latest corporate earnings reports and forecasts in a bid to get a better sense of how companies are handling high inflation, a slowing economy and fears of a recession.
“You have a market that’s in waiting mode,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. “It’s waiting for a sense of what we’re going to hear from companies.”
Investors reviewed a handful of earnings reports Friday. Hospital operator HCA Healthcare rose 3.9% after the company topped estimates for the first quarter and raised its full-year profit forecast. Procter & Gamble, the maker of Charmin toilet paper and other iconic consumer products, rose 3.5% after beating estimates thanks to price increases.
Information technology services company PC Connection fell 4.9% after a disappointing financial update. Regional bank Regions Financial fell 2.8% after reporting discouraging earnings.
Companies so far beat Wall Street forecasts this earnings period. Several big companies are on deck to report earnings next week, which could help provide more direction for investors as recession worries linger, Krosby said.
“There’s a tug of war between what the economic data is saying and the message from equity markets,” she said.
Wall Street also is anticipating more data next week on inflation and the economy.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 3.73 points to 4,133.52. The Dow added 22.34 points to close at 33,808.96. The Nasdaq rose 12.90 points to 12,072.46. Decliners held a slight edge over gainers on the New York Stock Exchange.
Markets in Europe ended with small gains Friday, while exchanges in Asia declined overnight.
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