S&P 500 Set to Snap Four-week Win Streak as Growth Stocks Slide

Large Growth/Tech Stocks Drive Friday's Drop

Big tech/growth stocks were what drove down US equity markets on Friday. Companies including Apple (-1.3%), Microsoft (-1.4%), Alphabet (-2.3%), Amazon (-2.9%), Tesla (-2.7%), and Meta Platforms (-3.7%) all suffered amid a strong increase in long-term US government yields. The latest rally in US yields was attributed to a jump in German producer price inflation in July to new record highs and recent hawkish remarks from Fed policymakers. As a result, the US 10-year yield climbed to its highest levels in almost a month at just under 3.0%, nearly 50 basis points higher than earlier monthly lows.

Whatever the reason for the increase in US bond yields, it means that owning growth stocks—whose values are based disproportionately on expectations for future profits growth than actual earnings—now has a higher opportunity cost. Unsurprisingly, the Nasdaq 100, which is highly weighted toward big technology and growth stocks, had the poorest performance on Friday, down 2.0%.

That brought its losses for the week to slightly over 2.4%. While the S&P 500 is still comfortably above 4,200, it lost around 1.2% on Friday, bringing its weekly losses to about 1.1%. With Friday's decline, both indices are likely to end their four-week gain streak. The Dow, on the other hand, fell by slightly more than 0.7% on Friday and was still trading level for the week.

In terms of the S&P 500 GICS sectors, Energy (+0.5%), Utilities (+0.2%), and Healthcare (+0.7%) increased, while Consumer Staples remained unchanged and the other seven all decreased, with Consumer Discretionary stocks leading the way with a 2.0% fall.

DE Falling on Weak Earnings, GM Reinstating Dividends, and Cohen Selling Shares Dropping BBBY 40%

Regarding specific stock news, after the business reported lower-than-expected earnings per share for the previous quarter, citing persistent supply chain issues, Deere's share price fell as much as 4.0% intraday before rising. Following General Motors' announcement that it would resume the quarterly dividend payments that had been suspended in 2020, the company's stock price increased by almost 2.0%.

Following the revelation that billionaire investor Ryan Cohen had sold his shares in the struggling business and made a $60 million profit, Bed Bath & Beyond's share price fell by over 40% on Friday.

The last price of BBBY stock was just under $12. BBBY had previously reached weekly highs of $30 and had increased by roughly 500% month-over-month. Recent price movement has been compared to the meme stock mania of early 2021.

The revelation that DoorDash had ended its grocery deal with Walmart, whose shares were last down slightly more than 1.0% on the day, caused it to drop 3.0% on Friday.