US close: Tech stocks drag markets lower, bond yields rise

(Sharecast News) - US stocks declined sharply on Friday as bond yields rose to an eight-month high, with the tech sector providing a big drag. The supposed Santa Claus rally - which tends to begin on Christmas Eve and continue through to the first couple of trading sessions of the new year - has proved short-lived, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both falling for the second straight session.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.%, while the Dow pulled back 0.8% after five straight days of gains.

Dragging on investor sentiment was another move higher in 10-year US Treasury note yields. Yields touched an intraday high of 4.635% - up from 4.582% on Thursday to hit their highest level since late-April.

The 10-year bond yield has risen sharply from below the 4.2% mark at the start of the month due to the perceived risk of higher inflation resulting from the uncertainty around the incoming Trump administration.

Investors were also likely still digesting last week's hawkish shift from the Federal Reserve, along with a batch of recent weak economic data, including labour-market figures which showed that continuing jobless claims were at their highest levels in more than three years.

"Those glued to their screens, hoping for Santa's arrival, were left disappointed," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. "The bad news [from economic data] did little to boost the Fed doves and support the equity rally."

On the economic front on Friday, the US foreign trade shortfall on goods widened by 4.7% in November to reach $102.9bn, ahead of the consensus forecast of $100.9bn. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce reported that wholesale inventories fell by 0.2% over the month (consensus: 0.2%).

In equity news, heavyweight tech stocks like Nvidia, Tesla, IBM and Amazon.com were all out of favour, as investors scaled back risk appetite and took profits from the sector which has powered much of this year's gains.

One major mover was drone company Red Cat Holdings, dropping 10% as the stock pulled back following a near-90% surge in the share price over the past two weeks alone.

Also retreating after recent gains was energy tech firm KULR Technology Group, slipping 3% after having rocketed more than 500% since the start of the month on the back of its new bitcoin treasury strategy.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $180.88 0.19% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $144.00 0.01%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $430.53 -1.73% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $255.59 -1.32% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $91.66 -1.22% American Express Co. (AXP) $301.11 -0.97% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $338.63 -0.96% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $241.41 -0.95% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $222.84 -0.94% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.55 -0.89% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $576.21 -0.87% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $241.17 -0.81%

S&P 500 - Risers

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $67.00 2.63% Apache Corp. (APA) $22.08 1.12% TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $14.56 1.01% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $151.31 0.94% Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $171.78 0.93% Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $48.56 0.75% VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $204.01 0.63% FedEx Corp. (FDX) $280.21 0.61% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $60.21 0.60% Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $31.86 0.54%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $73.42 -3.91% Kohls Corp. (KSS) $14.36 -3.30% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $5.49 -3.17% Macy's Inc. (M) $17.54 -3.09% Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $66.24 -2.69% CME Group Inc. (CME) $233.50 -2.39% Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $323.14 -2.26% Carnival Corp. (CCL) $25.10 -2.26% Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $25.75 -2.24% Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $61.79 -2.20%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $151.31 0.94% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $60.21 0.60% Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $30.68 0.43% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $92.25 0.42% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $135.27 0.23% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $8.44 0.18%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.34 -6.22% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $431.66 -4.95% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $70.59 -3.38% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $34.98 -3.18% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $186.11 -2.11% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $137.01 -2.09% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $211.43 -1.89% Fastenal Co. (FAST) $73.01 -1.89% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $86.60 -1.87% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $907.55 -1.80%