Inflation Squeezes Stocks, Bitcoin Slips To $68,000, While Commodities On Track For Best Week In Months: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Author: Piero Cingari | March 15, 2024 02:12pm

Wall Street continues to maintain a risk-off sentiment in Friday’s session, echoing the pessimism triggered by Thursday’s unexpectedly high producer inflation figures.

Major stock indices flashed red, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 once again trailing, while only small caps and energy stocks managed to buck the trend and avoid losses.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, was up 5%, mimicking Thursday’s gains.

Although Treasury yields held steady around Thursday’s closing marks, the weekly surge of 20-30 basis points across all Treasury maturities marks the worst week for bonds since mid-October 2023, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) down nearly 3%.

Cryptocurrencies remained tethered to risky assets, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) plunging by 5% and falling to $68,000 on Friday.

In the midst of market turbulence fueled by resurging inflationary fears, commodities shone brightly. The Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (NYSE:DBC) is poised to log its most robust performance since early January 2024.

While gold held steady at $2,160 per ounce, silver staged a 1.6% gain, reflecting, in part, the broader surge in industrial metals, with copper nearing a one-year-high. Oil remained stable at $80 per barrel, but it has climbed over 4% for the week, trading at its loftiest levels since early November 2023.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Equity Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-Day % Chg
Russell 2000	2,040.02	0.0%
Dow Jones	38,722.86	-0.5%
S&P 500	5,116.29	-0.7%
Nasdaq 100	17,810.37	-1.1%
CBOE VIX	15.19	5.5%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 1.1% lower to $509.37, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched 0.9% lower to $386.69 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 1.2% to $433, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB), was the only positive performers for the day, up by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The Technology Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) was the laggard, down 1.7%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

• Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) rose 5.4% Friday, and is up by 18.8% for the week, marking the best weekly performance since November 2016.
• Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) slumped by 16.4% after missing revenue estimates last quarter.
• Zillow Group (NYSE:Z) shares tumbled by 7.9%, while Compass Inc. (NYSE:COMP) saw a decline of 5.3%, and Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ:RDFN) dropped by 4%, after the National Association of Realtors agreed to pay $418 million to settle claims on behalf of home sellers regarding broker commissions.
• Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) fell over 14% despite reporting better-than-expected results last quarter. The negative reaction came from a weaker revenue guidance for Q2.
• Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN) surged by 85% following the announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted in favor of the benefit-to-risk profile of imetelstat.
• CoStar Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) rose over 7% after the company announced that Homes.com gained over 149 million unique visitors in February, marking a 567% rise from a year earlier.

Read now: Powell At Crossroads As Inflation Bites Again: Fed Needs To ‘Get Going On The Rate Cuts They Have To Make’ Former Governor Says

Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney.

Posted In: $BTC ADBE COMP CSGP DBC DIA GERN JBL QQQ RDFN SCCO SPY TLT XLB XLE XLK XLRE Z