US stocks were little changed in early afternoon trading on Friday, taking a breather after six straight days of gains and ahead of a three-day holiday weekend. Another strong day for consumer stocks was offset by weakness in healthcare and real estate stocks, leaving the market in danger of snapping its six-day winning streak, which is its longest since February.
The streak - one that included record high closes for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on Thursday - has put all three major indexes on track to post their strongest weekly gains since the end of April. "We've reached new highs and we expect days of strong gains. Investors may be taking a breather as we head into the holiday weekend," said Emily Roland, head of investment research at John Hancock Investments in Boston.
At 12:32 p.m. ET (1632 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 9.32 points, or 0.04 percent, at 21,073.63, the S&P 500 was down 0.22 points, or 0.00 percent, at 2,414.85. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.83 points, or 0.03 percent, at 6,207.09. Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led for the second session in a row by consumer stocks.
The consumer staples index rose 0.18 percent and the consumer discretionary index was up 0.16 percent. Shares of Costco Wholesale rose 1.8 percent to $177.99 and was among the biggest drivers of the S&P and Nasdaq, after the warehouse club operator reported a strong profit. Ulta Beauty jumped 3.3 percent, the second most on the S&P, after the company raised its full-year forecast.
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