Tech stocks slide dragging S&P, Dow down for week

US-China tensions rise amid a consulate closings tit-for-tat

U.S. equity markets ended lower on Friday in what was a choppy week of trading.

Big-tech paced the selloff with the Nasdaq slipping 0.94 percent and posting its first back-to-back loss since May.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 15511.824723 -200.92 -1.28%
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 37982.05 -478.87 -1.25%
SP500 S&P 500 5027.03 -44.60 -0.88%

Meanwhihile the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 182 points, or 0.68 percent, and the S&P 500 lost 0.62 percent.

During the final hour of trading, investors shrugged off President Trump's executive orders aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. Large pharma stocks ended the session lower.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
PFE PFIZER INC. 25.45 -0.81 -3.10%
MRK MERCK & CO. INC. 130.01 +3.00 +2.36%
MYL n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
TEVA TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LTD. 13.04 +0.03 +0.23%

The move was overshadowed by rising tensions between the US and China following retaliation against the White House for the closing of its Houston consulate.

Beijing ordered the U.S. consulate in Chengdu to close a day after Washington said the Chinese consulate in Houston was used as a hub for spying. China-based companies traded in the U.S., including Alibaba and Baidu, declined.

On Wall Street, Goldman Sachs reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Malaysia over the 1MDB money-laundering scandal in which the investment bank was accused of organizing bond sales that helped a former leader steal billions intended to accelerate the country’s economic development.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GS THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. 417.71 -5.22 -1.23%
AXP AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. 237.41 -1.82 -0.76%
INTC INTEL CORP. 34.84 +0.34 +0.99%
AMD ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. 153.40 +1.66 +1.09%

Looking at earnings, Intel beat on the top and bottom lines, but executives warned the company’s next-generation chip would be delayed until late 2022 or early 2023 after last saying it was expected in 2021. Shares of rival chipmaker AMD benefited from the announcement.

American Express net income fell 85 percent as consumers spent less while riding out the COVID-19 pandemic from home.

Oilfield services provider Schlumberger booked a $3.7 billion writedown and said 2020 capital investment would be down 45 percent from the prior year.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SLB SLB NV 49.35 +0.24 +0.49%

West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained over 1 percent for the week closing at $41.29 per barrel while gold continued to shine rising 4.9 percent for the week to a new record high of $1,897.30.

U.S. Treasurys were little changed with the yield on the 10-year note holding near 0.589 percent.

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In Europe, Germany’s DAX paced the decline, down 2.02 percent, while France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE were off 1.54 percent and 1.41 percent, respectively.

Asian markets finished lower across the board as China’s Shanghai Composite tumbled 3.86 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 2.21 percent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.58 percent.