In this Feb. 16, 2021 file photo, pedestrians pass the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Stocks were moving lower in the first hour of trading Friday, March 19, as bond yields continued to rise. Bank stocks fell after the Federal Reserve announced it would end some of its emergency measures put into place for the industry last year to help deal with the pandemic. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Stocks are closing mostly lower on Wall Street Friday. The S&P 500 lost 0.1% to end with its first weekly loss in the last three. Bank stocks fell after the Federal Reserve announced it would end some emergency measures put in place for the industry last year to help deal with the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7%, falling for a second-straight week. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher. FedEx shares soared to a three-month high after the package delivery giant reported strong third-quarter earnings.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story appears below.
Stocks edged higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street Friday as bond yields pulled back slightly from their climb.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.2% as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 130points, or 0.4%, to 32,731, pulled lower by financial companies. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.
Bank stocks fell after the Federal Reserve announced it would end some emergency measures put into place for the industry last year to help deal with the pandemic.
The S&P 500 index is on track for its first weekly loss in the last three. As interest rates have risen, pricier stocks like technology companies have fallen.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped to 1.72% from 1.73% late Thursday, easing off its continued climb. The security is used to price a multitude of financial products, like the traditional 30-year mortgage, and higher interest rates have given investors some concern that it may slow economic growth.
There are also concerns that the rise in bond yields could be a harbinger of inflation. Fed officials said earlier this week that they may let the U.S. economy “run hot” for some time in order to not stymie the economic recovery as the pandemic eases.
On Friday the Fed announced it would end some of the emergency measures put in place during the pandemic. It will restore some of the capital requirements for big banks that were suspended in the early months of the pandemic, in order to give banks flexibility. The banking industry had hoped those measures would be extended.
The announcement briefly raised concerns about more bond selling, but those fears have been tempered, said Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist at Stifel.
“Overall, the very near term concerns are going back to some of the bigger picture questions,” he said. “How high can yields go and what does that mean for stock valuations.”
Big bank stocks were particularly hurt, since the Fed's measures mostly apply to the nation's largest banks. Citigroup fell 0.8%, while Bank of America fell 1.3% and JPMorgan Chase slid 2.7%.
Shares of transportation company FedEx leaped 6% in afternoon trading after the company reported earnings well above analysts' estimates.
Shares of Nike fell by 3.1% after the athletic apparel company said pandemic-caused congestion at ports caused sales to slow in the last quarter.
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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