The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 held steady Friday after U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in July, while Applied Materials tumbled even after beating earnings estimates. Reddit shares jumped after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the company will join the S&P 500 on Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.6% in July, against economist forecasts of a 0.1% increase. Excluding autos, sales dropped 0.3%, versus an expected 0.2% gain.
Despite the miss, the Dow and S&P 500 both moved up marginally just after Friday's open. The Nasdaq composite inched lower, while the Nasdaq 100 held a gain of 0.3%.
Later in the morning, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index came in at 51, below expectations of 54.5. Economists had expected sentiment to ease to 54.2 from 55.2 in July, with year-ahead inflation expectations steady at 4.2%.
Applied Materials stock tumbled more than 5% Friday morning even though the semiconductor equipment maker beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter. Shares had also found resistance at their 50-day moving average Thursday.
Late Thursday, Applied Materials earned an adjusted $3.50 a share on sales of $9.1 billion for the quarter, ahead of FactSet estimates of $3.40 a share on $9 billion in sales. Earnings rose 41% and sales climbed 25% year over year.
Reddit shares jumped nearly 11% Friday morning after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the social media company will join the S&P 500 index Tuesday. The stock had closed Thursday more than 44% off its 52-week high, but was trying to move above its 50-day moving average Friday.
Source: Investor's Business Daily
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