After two days of intense rallies the markets took a breath today and traded near break-even.  The sentiment seems to be that there is “a pronounced trend toward recovery in the market” and as today’s expert put it, “There’s plenty of things to worry about but, bottom line, short-term rates make putting your money in cash unattractive, and bonds seem riskier at these levels than stocks.” Evergrande missed its interest payment deadline but the markets seem to be shrugging this off now.  Volume remains below average at 9.0 billion. 

Fri  September 24, 2021  6:13 PM

Wall St near even, dragged by Nike 6% drop after warning

By Caroline Valetkevitch

DJ: 34,764.82  +506.50       NAS: 15,052.24  +155.40       S&P:  4,448.98  +53.34     9/23

DJ: 34,798.00  +33.18         NAS: 15,047.50  -4.55            S&P: 4,455.48  +6.50       9/24

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 were little changed in Friday afternoon trading following a two-day rally, with a downbeat sales forecast from Nike offsetting gains in financial and energy shares.  The sportswear maker's shares (NKE.N) dropped 6.2% and were the biggest drag on the Dow and the S&P 500 after it also warned of delays during the holiday shopping season, blaming a supply chain crunch. read more  Shares of footwear retailer Foot Locker (FL.N) shed 7.2%.  However, gains in economically sensitive energy (.SPNY), financials (.SPSY) and industrials (.SPLRCI) shares limited losses.  The S&P 500 was on track to post a slight gain for the week.

"The last few days have shown a pronounced trend toward recovery in the market and back toward the highs," said Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.  "There's plenty of things to worry about, but bottom line, short-term rates make putting your money in cash unattractive, and bonds seem riskier at these levels than stocks do to many investors."  Stocks fell sharply at the start of the week due to concerns over a default by China's Evergrande (3333.HK) and its potential risk to global financial markets and also ahead of the Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.18 points, or 0.1%, to 34,798, the S&P 500 gained 6.5 points, or 0.15%, to 4,455.48 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.55 points, or 0.03%, to 15,047.70.  For the week, the Dow was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq was near flat.

Also, shares of cryptocurrency-related firms Coinbase Global (COIN.O), MicroStrategy Inc (MSTR.O), Riot Blockchain (RIOT.O) and Marathon Patent Group (MARA.O) fell after China's central bank put a ban on crypto trading and mining. read more

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.31-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.40-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 63 new lows. 

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.00 billion shares, compared with the 10.11 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.