US close: Stocks slip after choppy session ahead of MLK Day

(Sharecast News) - US stocks were struggling for direction on Friday, finishing marginally lower as investors refrained from taking on too much risk ahead of the long weekend, with markets shut on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.

With Wall Street's three major benchmarks already trading close to their all-time highs, markets were swinging between gains and losses for the most of the session, with the Dow finishing 0.2% lower, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipping 0.1%.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "With a long weekend ahead of them it was likely that some of the enthusiasm on Wall Street would ebb away, and European markets have followed suit after a very good start to the year for global equity markets."

Market participants were looking to wrap up a busy week after contending with a flurry of headlines out of Washington, ranging from rising geopolitical tensions in Iran and Greenland to renewed concerns over potential threats to the Federal Reserve's independence.

Meanwhile, following a steady start to fourth-quarter earnings season - following mostly better-than-expected numbers from the major US banks, albeit without any major positive share-price reactions - investors will now be turning to an upcoming wave of results from tech heavyweights. These, Beauchamp said, are "still the major driver of earnings even if their lead has eroded of late".

On the macro front, US industrial expanded by 0.4% over the month of December, in line with the 0.4% increase registered in November and the second straight month of gains, coming in comfortably ahead of the 0.1% consensus forecast. At the same time, capacity utilisation - the percentage of overall production capacity that is actually used - improved to 76.3% from 76.1%, beating the 76.0% consensus forecast.

The National Association of Home Builders' housing market index decreased to 37 points in January, down from 39 points in December, with current sales conditions declining one point to 41, sales expectations in the next six months falling three points to 49, and taffic of prospective buyers dropping three points to 23.

In a further sign of ongoing challenges for the housing market, the latest HMI survey also revealed that 40% of builders reported cutting prices in January, unchanged from December, while the average price reduction rose to 6% in January, up from the 5% rate in December.

Market movers

US-listed shares of Novo Nordisk surged 9% after the UK health authority approved higher doses of the Danish firm's blockbuster weight-loss treatment Wegovy.

Currently, doctors are unable to prescribe more than 2.4 milligrams of the jab a week for patients with obesity. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has given the green light to a new maximum weekly dose of up to 7.2 milligrams for those with a body mass index of 30 or above, to be administered in three separate injections alongside a reduced-calorie diet and exercise.

Banking stocks finished mixed as investors continued to digest quarterly results from the sector: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup made gains, recovering after recent falls; but Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley pulled back after the latter two impressed with their earnings the previous session.

Meanwhile, chipmaker Micron Technology jumped after it was revealed that a board member snapping up nearly $8m in shares at the market price, even after a near-250% surge in the stock over the past year.

Dow Jones - Risers

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $305.67 2.59%

American Express Co. (AXP) $364.79 2.08%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $312.47 1.04%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $459.86 0.70%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $380.17 0.27%

Visa Inc. (V) $328.30 0.17%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $330.50 0.14%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $166.26 0.06%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $113.56 0.00%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.96 -2.81%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $227.11 -2.75%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $331.02 -2.34%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.20 -1.95%

3M Co. (MMM) $167.80 -1.93%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $108.83 -1.93%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $962.00 -1.42%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.57 -1.32%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $38.91 -1.14%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $255.53 -1.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $362.75 7.76%

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $37.68 6.56%

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $73.73 4.36%

Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $466.75 4.27%

PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) $223.18 3.79%

Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $95.93 3.52%

Synchrony Financial (SYF) $80.19 3.20%

PPL Corp. (PPL) $36.83 3.14%

Eaton Corporation plc (ETN) $343.75 3.09%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $124.91 3.01%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $163.04 -6.18%

State Street Corp. (STT) $128.02 -6.07%

TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $13.28 -5.08%

Mosaic Company (MOS) $26.35 -4.46%

PVH Corp. (PVH) $64.63 -4.38%

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $103.84 -4.21%

Prudential Fincl Inc. (PRU) $111.69 -4.07%

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $152.05 -4.07%

Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $3.05 -3.79%

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $22.01 -3.76%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $362.75 7.76%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $124.91 3.01%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $351.71 2.53%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $222.96 2.52%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $327.01 2.49%

Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $79.98 2.43%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,358.57 2.03%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $326.23 1.85%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $516.31 1.60%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,567.82 1.48%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $284.95 -3.17%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $93.03 -3.16%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $186.86 -3.04%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $12.21 -2.94%

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $23.53 -2.93%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.96 -2.81%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $296.12 -2.62%

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $114.33 -2.59%

Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $10.24 -2.57%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $141.65 -2.51%