U.S. stocks fell Friday as Brent settled at its highest since April
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed lower on Oct. 23, CNBC reported, while Brent crude finished at its highest settlement since April.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 652.82 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.16 on Friday, CNBC reported. In that same close, the S&P 500 slipped 0.52% to 7,623.68 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.21% to 25,955.34.
For the week, CNBC said the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq shed 0.7%, while the Dow gained 0.4%. Defensive groups were lower on Friday: consumer staples, utilities and health care all finished down, according to that report.
CNBC said American Express fell more than 3% after the company said it was cutting about 5% of its global workforce. Caterpillar edged down about 2%, and Goldman Sachs lost more than 1%. Microsoft ticked higher. Micron Technology gained nearly 3%, and Advanced Micro Devices gained almost 2%.
The 10-year Treasury yield was around 4.999%, up more than 4 basis points on the day, CNBC reported. The same report said the yield had fallen below 5% on Thursday for the first time in a month.
Oil moved the other way. CNBC said West Texas Intermediate futures rose 3.8% to settle at $103.27 a barrel, and Brent crude rose 3.1% to $116.72, its highest settlement since April. CNBC said those gains followed reports that the United States and Israel may be drawing up plans for renewed attacks on Iran, in a regional war that started in late February, and that Iran has said it is prepared to strike back. This article is not treating those military reports as independently confirmed.
CNBC also reported that the Cboe Volatility Index rose to 20.24 on Friday, after a 14% jump on Thursday to 19.03, and described the index as on track to finish the week above 20 for the first time since early June. The same dispatch said ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips traded at all-time highs on Friday.
Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management, told CNBC that investors had been moving from technology and data-center shares into assets seen as safer, and that Friday looked like a day when that shift ran out of willing sellers. He also told CNBC that recent technology earnings had been good. That is his description of the session, not a recommendation to buy or sell any share.
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