Tech drop offsets boost for retailers
Retailers jumped again Friday as they continued to report strong quarterly results, but technology companies and other big U.S. corporations couldn’t add to Thursday’s gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished slightly lower for the second week in a row after an eight-week winning streak.
A slew of retailers — including discount chain Ross Stores, shoe store Foot Locker and clothiers Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch — soared after issuing strong results or forecasts. Tech, healthcare and industrial companies slumped; on Thursday, they led stocks to their biggest gains in two months.
Investors have liked what they’ve seen from retailers the last two days. Invesco Global Market Strategist Kristina Hooper said the companies are giving a double dose of good news: Consumers are spending more, and there are signs some companies are figuring out how to survive even as purchases are increasingly made online.
Ross Stores jumped 10% to $72.25 after reporting profit and sales that were greater than expected and raising its forecast for the rest of the year.
Gap, too, did better than expected as sales at Old Navy and Athleta improved and it cut spending. Its stock climbed 7% to $29.40.
Foot Locker surged 28.2% to $40.82 after posting a solid quarter and saying that despite steep discounts, it expects to meet or “modestly exceed” its annual profit and sales forecasts. The stock is still down 42% this year.
Hibbett Sports climbed 15.2% to $17.10 after the retailer raised its profit forecast and said it expects a smaller decline in a key sales measurement. Its stock has dropped 54% this year.
Twenty-First Century Fox climbed 6.2% to $31.15 on growing speculation that some of the media company’s assets will be sold. It’s up 25% in the last two weeks.
Electronic Arts stock retreated 2.5% to $108.92 after the video game company announced a change to “Star Wars Battlefront II” right before its Friday launch. EA turned off in-game purchases after fans complained about the cost of a feature that enables players to skip ahead. Its shares are down 9% this month.
Other tech companies also struggled. Microsoft slipped 1% to $82.40, and Intel fell 2.2% to $44.63.
Gold and oil prices jumped as the dollar weakened to its lowest level in almost a month.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.41, or 2.6%, to $56.55 a barrel. Brent crude rose $1.36, or 2.2%, to $62.72 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to $1.74 a gallon. Heating oil rose 4 cents to $1.95 a gallon. Natural gas rose 4 cents to $3.10 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose $18.30, or 1.4%, to $1,296.50 an ounce. Silver climbed 30 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.37 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents to $3.07 a pound.
The dollar fell to 112.13 yen from 112.98 yen. The euro rose to $1.1796 from $1.1765.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.34% from 2.38%.