By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 climbed Friday, led technology stocks even as data showed consumers are growing increasingly wary of inflationary pressures.
The S&P 500 rose 0.65%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.45%, or 161 points, the Nasdaq climbed 0.86%.
Technology stocks were pushed higher by big tech as Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), formerly known as Facebook, and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), parent of Google, rose more than 3% and 1%, respectively.
As well as a rise in big tech, a rebound in semiconductor stocks from weakness a day earlier underpinned the broader tech sector, amid a rise in Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX).
Seagate surged more than 6% to record highs as investors continue to bet that the storage company will see a surge in demand from Meta’s investment to build out its metaverse platform.
Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), however, was underperforming the broader chip sector after Wedbush downgraded it to neutral from outperform, citing valuation concerns.“[W]hile we remain very bullish on both NVDA’s near term prospects and longer term opportunities … we simply find ourselves unable to justify lifting our multiple to levels that would continue to justify an outperform and as such we are shifting to a neutral rating even as our target price lifts to $300 (from $220),” Wedbush said in a note.
Energy turned red as oil prices slipped and are set for weekly drop amid concerns about the demand outlook following Covid-led lockdowns in Europe.
In health care, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was in the spotlight after announcing plans to spin off its consumer health business into a separate company. Its shares climbed more than 1%.
Blink Charging Co (NASDAQ:BLNK), meanwhile, jumped more than 11% after reporting revenue that topped Wall Street expectations.
Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ:RIDE) reported a narrower third-quarter loss than expected, and pushed back its timeline on new production, triggering a slew of downgrades from Wall Street. Its shares fell 17%. “While we continue to like the longer-term prospects for the Endurance to carve out a slice of the commercial EV pickup truck market, with production being pushed back another few quarters we downgrade RIDE to Neutral,” BTIG said in a note.
U.S. Treasury yields, which have cooled their recent jolt higher, recovered some losses following data showing consumer sentiment fell amid worries about elevated inflation.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index fell to 66.8 from 71.7 in the preliminary November survey, the weakest reading since November 2011. Economists, however, were quick to downplay a potential fall in consumer spending.
“We would be surprised if this dip in confidence is followed by softening spending, which ultimately is what matters. Households are awash with cash, in aggregate, and their net balance wealth has surged since Covid began.” Pantheon Macroeconomics said.