A Wall Street sign is seen next to surveillance equipment outside the New York Stock Exchange, Oct. 5, 2021, in New York. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street Friday, Jan. 14, 2022 keeping the S&P 500 on course for its second weekly decline in a row. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
A late-afternoon recovery in technology stocks helped erase most of the market’s losses Friday, but it wasn’t enough to keep major indexes from logging their second losing week in a row. The S&P 500 snuck back into the green in the last few minutes of trading, ending with a gain of 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%. Banks fell. JPMorgan Chase fell 6.1% after reporting that its profits fell 14% in the latest quarter. Traders were also disappointed to see that retail sales sank 1.9% last month.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Stocks fell broadly in afternoon trading trading on Wall Street Friday, keeping the major indexes on pace for their second weekly decline in a row.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 2:33 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, to 35,775 and the Nasdaq fell 0.1%.
Banks were the biggest weight on the market. JPMorgan Chase slumped 6.3% for the biggest decline in the S&P 500 after reporting that its profits fell 14% in the latest quarter from a year earlier as its trading business slumped. Citigroup fell 1.8% after reporting its latest results.
A wide range of retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending also fell following a weak retail sales report for December. Home Depot fell 3.8% and Whirlpool fell 5.2%.
Technology stocks gained ground and tempered the market's losses. Microsoft rose 1.1%
The price of U.S. crude oil rose 2% and helped send energy stocks higher. Chevron rose 1.3%.
Smaller company stocks took some of the heaviest losses, pulling the Russell 2000 index down 1%.
Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.77% from 1.70% late Thursday.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales sank 1.9% in December after Americans cut their spending in the face of product shortages, rising prices and the onset of the omicron variant.
“That's a lot of bad things to happen in a short amount of time in one of the strongest retail months of the year,” said Robert Cantwell, portfolio manager at Upholdings.
The disappointing retail report is the latest in a series of economic reports this week that has raised concern about inflation and its impact on businesses and consumer spending.
The Labor Department reported on Wednesday that consumer inflation jumped at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month, a 7% spike from a year earlier that is increasing household expenses and biting into wage gains. The government agency also reported on Thursday that prices at the wholesale level surged by a record 9.7% for all of 2021.
Rising prices have been prompting businesses to pass more costs on to consumers. Consumers have been pulling back on spending at department stores, restaurants and online as a result of higher prices and supply shortages.
Businesses are also feeling the impact from inflation. Paint maker Sherwin-Williams fell 2.7% after reporting disappointing fourth-quarter earnings because of raw materials costs and supply chain problems. Boston Beer, which makes Sam Adams beer, slumped 10.9% after cutting its earnings forecast because of supply chain problems.
Concerns over persistently rising inflation are also prompting the Federal Reserve to trim its bond purchases and consider raising interest rates earlier and more often than Wall Street had expected less than a year ago.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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