The three major US equities indexes closed lower again Thursday. Stocks could not hold on to gains in the early morning, and in the early afternoon only the Dow Jones industrial average held the break-even line. The Nasdaq closed 1.4%, the Dow ended essentially flat, and the S&P 500 was down 0.5%. Of the S&P 500 stocks, the losers outpaced the winners by about 1.8 to 1 on Thursday. Five of the 11 sectors closed lower, led by cyclical consumers (down 2.4%) and real estate (1.8%). The energy (up 1.1%) and utilities (0.9%) sectors posted the best gains.
Crude settled at $ 86.61 on Thursday and traded about 0.8% in early trading on Friday at $ 87.24. The 10-year/two-year US Treasury note spread ended the day at 0.63%, narrower by nine basis points.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its monthly report on personal income and expenses for December 2021 Friday morning. Economists predicted a 0.5% increase in revenue and a 0.5% decrease in expenditures. The core PCE price index is estimated to increase by 0.5% monthly and 4.8% annually.
Here are the five S&P 500 stocks that closed with the biggest gains on Thursday: ServiceNow (up 9.14%), Ball (8.57%), Seagate (7.65%), Packaging Corp. of America (7.56%) and Netflix (7.51%).
The biggest losers on Thursday in S&P 500 stocks were Teradyne (down 22.40%), Tesla (11.60%), AMD (7.30%), Northrop Grumman (7.30%) and Textron (7.11%).
At around 7:00 am ET Friday morning, the S&P 500 futures traded about 0.5%, the Nasdaq traded about 0.1%, and the Dow was down 0.6%.
The leading gainer in S&P 500 stocks in premarket trading on Friday was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), rose approximately 4.3%, to $ 215.04 in a 52-week range of $ 190.10 to $ 252.67. The company reported results late Thursday that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded approximately 4% to $ 165.53, in a 52-week range of $ 116.12 to $ 182.94. The company beat top-line and bottom-line estimates when it reported results on Thursday. For the current quarter, Apple said it expects “solid” revenue growth, but less than the 11.3% year-over-year growth rate in the December quarter. The current consensus estimate requires annual revenue growth of 0.07%.
Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) traded up about 0.8% before the markets opened Friday, to $ 38.20 in a 52-week range of $ 30.87 to $ 41.80. The wood products giant beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines Friday morning. The company will also pay a “supplemental dividend” of $ 1.45 on Feb. 28 to shareholders with a record on Feb. 18.
Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS) traded approximately 0.7% to $ 110.00, in a 52-week range of $ 101.79 to $ 155.96. The company announced a 21% dividend increase on Thursday.
Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) traded 0.5% to $ 42.56, in a 52-week range of $ 37.76 to $ 142.00. On Thursday, the company received approval to offer online sports betting in Louisiana.
Stocks trading lower in Friday’s premarket session include Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD), which retreated 13% to $ 10.10, a new 52-week low if that price is carried over in the regular trading session. The current trading range is $ 11.15 to $ 85.00. Robinhood missed both revenue and earnings estimates when it reported quarterly results on Thursday. The company also said it expects slower growth in the future.
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) dropped 11.1% to $ 47.87, in a 52-week range of $ 49.50 to $ 78.19. The maker of hard drives and flash storage reported revenues and earnings better than predicted but provided downside guidance for the March quarter.
Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) traded down 3% in Friday’s premarket, to $ 238.00 in a 52-week range of $ 220.90 to $ 281.16. The company exceeded revenue estimates but missed earnings and then provided downside guidance for its 2022 financial year.
KLA Corp. dropped. (NASDAQ: KLAC) up 3.3% in the premarket session on Friday at $ 350.00, in the 52-week range of $ 273.24 to $ 457.12. The semiconductor equipment maker lost estimates on both the top and bottom lines but provided downside guidance for the current quarter on both revenue and earnings.
Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) traded about 2.7% Friday morning, at $ 108.00 in the 52-week range of $ 64.84 to $ 120.83. The staffing company beat estimates in the December-quarter, but there seemed to be no difference among investors. The total return to shareholders over the past 12 months was approximately 74%, approximately 67%on share price growth and the remainder on dividend yield (1.37%) and buybacks.
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