US stocks ended lower on Friday, with healthcare stocks leading the declines, as investors cashed in on a post-election rally and waited for clarity on the next administration’s policies.
Wall Street equities took a breather after rising dramatically since Republican candidate Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the presidential election on Nov. 8.
While the three major indices closed higher for the second week in a row, the rally lost some steam this week as investors awaited more information to support their bets that Trump could succeed in passing proposals to lift infrastructure spending and reduce taxes.
Photo: AP
“I see the market kind of churning here because it’s had a very decent move,” said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York. “Trump’s policies continue to be just rhetoric, because none of it has been enacted.”
The Dow Jones industrial average on Friday fell 35.89 points, or 0.19 percent, to 18,867.93, while the S&P 500 dropped 5.22 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,181.90. The NASDAQ Composite slipped 12.46 points, or 0.23 percent, to 5,321.51 after hitting a record of 5,346.8.
For the week, the Dow is up 0.1 percent from last week’s 18,847.66; the S&P is 0.8 higher from last week’s 2,164.45; and the NASDAQ is up 1.6 percent from last week’s 5,237.10.
The NASDAQ’s biggest drags came from technology companies, such as Alphabet Inc, and drug firms, including Amgen.
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors closed lower on Friday. Losses in shares of Allergan PLC and Merck were the biggest drags on the S&P health sector, which led the decliners.
The health index pared its post-election lift, but was still 1.8 percent higher than on Nov. 8, even after Friday’s drop of 1.2 percent.
Only five of the index’s stocks ended higher.
Consumer staples fell 0.4 percent, weighed down by a 1.3 percent fall in Procter & Gamble.
The S&P Energy sector was the second-best performer, with a 0.5 percent increase as producers added to rig count, suggesting they might be expecting a demand boost.
The S&P financial sector ended up 0.08 percent, and has risen 10.8 percent since the US election, boosted by prospect of higher interest rates and lighter regulation.
St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard on Friday said he was leaning toward supporting an increase next month and that the real question would be the Fed’s rate path next year.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George said that while she supports raising rates, the US central bank must do so only gradually.
The comments added to Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s Thursday statement that the rate hike could come “relatively soon.”
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.10-to-1 ratio; on NASDAQ, a 1.18-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the NASDAQ Composite recorded 253 new highs and 30 new lows.
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