Wall Street slips on weak GDP data, but indexes rise in
April
DJ: 20,940.51 -40.82 NAS: 6,047.61
-1.33 S&P: 2,384.20
-4.57 4/28
(Reuters) Stocks edged lower on
Wall Street on Friday after data showing the U.S. economy grew at its weakest
pace in three years in the first quarter gave traders a reason to cash recent
gains. Major indexes closed up for
April, however, with the Nasdaq up for six consecutive months, the longest
streak in nearly four years.
Gross domestic product grew at a 0.7
percent annual rate, below the 1.2 percent rise estimated by economists, as consumer
spending barely increased and businesses invested less in inventories. The
economy grew at a 2.1
percent pace in the fourth quarter.
"GDP
was a little bit light and that may be the cause of some weakness today,"
said Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas.
Citi
Research's gauge on U.S. economic data surprises .CESIUSD turned negative for
the first time since November.
The
soft growth data is bad news for the Trump administration after campaign promises
to significantly boost growth and adds to concerns among some in the market that lower taxes,
deregulation and increased government spending - the main reasons for a
post-election rally - will be,
at the least, delayed.
"We
saw the rally fade quite a bit into the last part of the first quarter,"
said Bradshaw. "I think you're going to have to see some (legislation)
within the next couple of months, otherwise the market will become
disenchanted. So far it's
been all talk, no show."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 40.82
points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 20,940.51, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.57 points,
or 0.19 percent, to 2,384.2 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 1.33
points, or 0.02 percent, to 6,047.61.
For
the week, the Dow rose 1.9 percent, the S&P gained 1.5 percent and the
Nasdaq rose 2.3 percent. During April, the Dow gained 1.3 percent, the S&P
rose 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 2.3 percent.
The Nasdaq was buoyed Friday by gains
in Amazon and Google's parent Alphabet.
Amazon
(AMZN.O) rose as much as
3.4 percent to a life high of $949.59, and ended up 0.7 percent at $924.99,
while Alphabet (GOOGL.O) gained as much as
5 percent to a record of $935.90 and closed up 3.7 percent at $924.52 after
their quarterly results beat estimates.
Combined
earnings reports and expectations for S&P 500 companies show profits are estimated to have risen 13.6 percent in the
first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
While
strong earnings have kept the market at or near record levels, persistent
geopolitical tensions have weighed on investors' minds.
Intel
(INTC.O) fell 3.4 percent
to $36.15 after the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue.
Baidu
(BIDU.O) ended down 4.1
percent at $180.23 after the Chinese internet company forecast second-quarter
revenue largely below estimates.
Declining
issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.59-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq,
a 1.76-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The
S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and six new lows; the Nasdaq Composite
recorded 103 new highs and 44 new lows.
About
6.94 billion shares
changed hands in U.S. exchanges on Friday, above the 6.55 billion daily
average over the last 20 sessions.
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