Wall Street's major averages turned positive at midday on Friday as gains in consumer stocks helped compensate for losses in the technology sector and concerns surrounding the outcome to this weekend's Group of Seven meeting in Canada.
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are indicated to close the week higher with the S&P and Nasdaq in the green for a third straight week.
Stocks were under pressure overnight and continued to trade lower for the first half of the day as the hostile relationship between the US with Canada and France inflamed fears of a trade war and spooked risk-averse investors.
Apple shares limped into the US open after media reports tied to dwindling demand for iPhones erased nearly $40 billion off the company's market cap. The company reportedly told its suppliers that demand for new iPhones could drop as much as 20% in the second half of the year, driving down shares by as much as 2% and weighing down the semiconductor sector in sympathy.
Emerging markets also weighed on global markets as recent rate hikes from Brazil and India and an emergency bailout loan of $50 billion to Argentina failed to soothe jittery investors. The Argentine peso fell to a record low, while the MSCI emerging markets futures index is trading at its lowest level this year.
Economic data was eclipsed by geopolitical events this morning and did little to generate interest in stocks. Wholesale inventories increased an as-expected 0.1% in April while sales were up 0.8%. This pushed the inventory/sales ratio to 1.28 from 1.29 in March.
Crude oil was down $0.41 to $65.54 per barrel. Natural gas was down $0.05 to $2.88 per 1 million BTU. Gold was down $0.20 to $1,302.80 an ounce, while silver was down $0.03 to $16.78 an ounce. Copper was up $0.02 to $3.30 per pound.
Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund was down 0.65% to $13.27 with the United States Natural Gas Fund was down 1.64% to $23.32. Among precious-metal funds, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was down 0.45% to 22.31 while SPDR Gold Shares were up 0.17% to $123.07. The iShares Silver Trust was up 0.45% to $15.79.
Here's where the markets stand at midday:
US MARKETS
NYSE Composite Index was up 1.86 points (+0.02%) to 12,790.48
Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 35.39 points (+0.14%) to 25,276.80
S&P 500 was down 0.03 points (-0.01%) to 2,770.04
Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.11 points (-0.05%) to 7,630.77
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
FTSE 100 was down 6.74 points (-0.09%) to 7,697.66
DAX was down 73.10 points (-0.57%) to 12,737.95
CAC 40 was up 1.87 points (+0.03%) to 5,450.22
Nikkei 225 was down 128.76 points (-0.56%) to 22,694.50
Hang Seng Index was down 554.42 points (-1.76%) to 30,958.21
Shanghai China Composite Index was down 42.37 points (-1.36%) to 3,067.13
NYSE SECTOR INDICES
NYSE Energy Sector Index was down 82.50 points (-0.68%) to 12,097.85
NYSE Financial Sector Index was down 3.14 points (-0.04%) to 8,053.67
NYSE Healthcare Sector Index was up 37.95 points (+0.26%) to 14,629.89
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) TPIV (+66.89%) Priced $70 million private placement
(+) EDAP (+61.09%) Received FDA 501(k) clearance for prostate tissue device
(+) SVRA (+26.96%) Evercore ISI initiated coverage at outperform, $40 price target
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) CPST (-14.29%) Reported mixed Q4 results, announced $25 million share offering
(-) TAX (-10.65%) Accounting firm resigned
(-) MVIS (-10.41%) Announced $18 million stock offering
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Copyright (C) 2016 MTNewswires.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
