Stocks were retreating in Friday afternoon trade after bouncing between small gains and losses earlier, as investors dealt with uncertainty over the spread of COVID-19 in China.
All three benchmark indexes touched all-time highs earlier in the week. As of Friday morning, the Dow looked set to end the week with a 1.1% gain, the S&P 500 was on pace to advance about 1.5% higher for the week, and the Nasdaq was set to gain 2.3% for the period. “Most traders still lack visibility on the way the virus is spreading in China, especially after a new testing method was introduced this week,” said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, in a note. “The recent data from Beijing show lower new daily cases but still more than before the new testing process was implemented, which provides investors with a blurry picture of the situation.”
But a measure of consumer sentiment surged above expectations to touch a near 15-year high in a preliminary February reading. Separately, the Commerce Department said business inventories rose a scant 0.1% in December.Which companies are in focus? What are other markets doing? Oil continued to power higher. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, +0.89% was 61 cents, or 1.2%, higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange. WTI has gained 3.
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Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »