U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds found their footing Friday as technology and energy sector stocks rebounded.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were 0.2% higher Friday.
After a tough couple of weeks on concerns over stretched valuations, technology companies in the S&P 500 are slowly regaining ground with an additional 0.8% gain on Friday.
Meanwhile, energy companies in the S&P 500 also added 0.3% as West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 0.4% to $42.9 per barrel. Nevertheless, crude oil remains on course for its largest first-half decline since the late 1990s after production cuts out of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to put a dent in the ongoing global supply glut.
Further weighing on the recent market moves, the weakening oil prices added to concerns over the inflation outlook, which along with a flatter yield curve, could trip up the Federal Reserve’s economic outlook, reports Sruthi Shankar for Reuters.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed should wait on further rate hikes until inflation is reliably heading to the central bank’s 2% target.
While slightly lower Friday, healthcare stocks have rallied over the past week after Senate Republicans unveiled legislation that would replace Obamacare.
“The market is banking a lot of its future on the Trump trade,” Ken Moraif, senior adviser at Money Matters, a wealth management and investment firm, told Reuters. “So when we see progress, the markets react positively to it.”
Friday was also one of the busiest trading days of the year as traders quickly adjusted to keep up with changes from FTSE Russell’s annual rebalancing of its major indices, especially among small-cap names. The Russell 2000 Index of small-cap companies rose 0.6% Friday.
“Russell rebalancing gives the small-cap market a bit more liquidity and trading volume, and managers could take advantage of the better volume,” Steven DeSanctis, an equity strategist with Jefferies LLC. told Bloomberg. “We could also see some swings in performance from a handful of individual names, and that too can help active managers.”
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