The US markets ended mostly lower on Friday as traders kept a close eye on activity in the bond market after a spike in treasury yields contributed to yesterday's sell-off by tech stocks. Yields pulled back sharply at the start of trading but subsequently rebounded and spent the rest of the session lingering near the unchanged line. Besides, a steep drop by shares of Nike (NKE) weighed on the Dow after the athletic apparel and footwear giant reported fiscal third quarter earnings that beat expectations but weaker than expected revenues. Financial stocks also moved to the downside after the Federal Reserve said a temporary change to the supplementary leverage ratio, or SLR, for depository institutions will expire as scheduled on March 31, 2021.
The temporary change, which allowed banks to hold less capital against Treasuries and other holdings, was made to provide flexibility for depository institutions to provide credit to households and businesses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Nasdaq rebounded after yesterday's sell-off. The rebound by the Nasdaq came as traders look to pick up technology stocks at reduced levels following the 3 percent nosedive by the tech-heavy index on Thursday. Meanwhile, reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending may attract attention next week along with Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234.33 points or 0.71 percent to 32,627.97 and S&P 500 was down by 2.36 points or 0.06 percent to 3,913.10, while Nasdaq rose 99.07 points or 0.76 percent to 13,215.24.