MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Edge Lower From Records Ahead Of Memorial Day Weekend

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Latest reading of first-quarter GDP revised higher

U.S. stocks traded slightly lower from record levels on Friday, as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher after six straight daily gains, especially headed into a long holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9 points to 21,075, while the S&P 500 dipped less than a point to 2,414. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost about 2 points to 6,203. All three were down about 0.1%.

For the week, both the Dow and S&P 500 are up 1.3%, while the Nasdaq is up 1.9%.

Both the S&P and the Nasdaq are coming off record closes; Thursday marked the 19th such record of the year for the S&P, surpassing the number of records set by the index in 2016. Double-digit gains in large technology names have been among Wall Street's biggest drivers this year.

See also:This top-heavy rally is built on 5 big tech stocks, but here's why that's not a worry (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-top-heavy-rally-is-built-on-5-big-tech-stocks-but-heres-why-thats-not-a-worry-2017-05-26)

Stock markets will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-do-markets-close-for-memorial-day-2017-05-24), but will see a regular day of trading Friday.

"It has been another great week for U.S. markets, notching up further highs, although the prospect of long weekend in the U.S. might well prompt some hesitancy this afternoon," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, in a note.

Data: In the latest economic data, orders for durable goods fell to a five-month low in April (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/orders-for-durable-goods-fall-to-5-month-low-2017-05-26), though the decline was slightly narrower than had been expected. Separately, the latest estimate on first-quarter gross domestic product was revised higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/economy-wasnt-as-bad-as-it-looked-in-first-quarter-gdp-shows-2017-05-26), moving to 1.2% from 0.7%.

"The data was a little better than expected, especially on the consumer side, but this isn't anything to change the outlook," said Eric Green, senior portfolio manager and director of research at Penn Capital Management.

Green added that the market was presenting a mixed picture for valuation, with some recent trading favorites--including consumer staples and companies that pay a high dividend--looking expensive, while others--including energy and industrials--looked cheap.

"Because the economy is still growing, these are still attractive even if we don't get things like tax reform or infrastructure spending" out of the Trump administration, he said. "But if we do, they're even more attractive."

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard, speaking in Tokyo on Friday, warned that the Fed and financial markets are on different pages when it comes to the direction of interest rates, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-bullard-says-markets-have-more-dovish-view-on-interest-rate-path-1495765216). Markets have a more dovish view of the rate path, he said.

Read:Buoyant U.S. economy rides out rough political sea, but more storms ahead (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buoyant-us-economy-rides-out-rough-political-sea-but-more-storms-ahead-2017-05-21)

Moving stocks: Shares of Nutanix Inc.(NTNX) rose 19% after the cloud-computing company posted better-than-expected financial results late Thursday.

U.S.-listed shares of BlackBerry Ltd. (BB.T) rose 1.1% after the company said the final award in its arbitration with Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) was $940 million--above the $815 million that had been announced in an interim ruling in April. Shares of Qualcomm lost 1.5%.

Read:Nutanix spikes as bigger customers sign on to hybrid cloud (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nutanix-spikes-as-bigger-customers-sign-on-to-hybrid-cloud-2017-05-25)

Deckers Outdoor Corp.(DECK) surged 18% a day after the Ugg boots maker posted a surprise quarterly profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deckers-outdoor-shares-surge-on-surprise-profit-outlook-2017-05-25).

Read:16 energy stocks that company executives love, regardless of what OPEC does (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/16-energy-stocks-that-company-executives-love-regardless-of-what-opec-does-2017-05-25)

Other markets:European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-struggle-as-oil-auto-shares-pull-back-2017-05-26) fell, though the FTSE 100 index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-at-all-time-high-with-the-pound-knocked-below-129-2017-05-26) rose to an all-time high as the British pound fell below $1.29 after a poll showed a further narrowing of the Conservative Party's lead before the June general election.

Oil prices bounced around (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-rise-slightly-as-some-investors-buy-in-wake-of-opecrelated-plunge-2017-05-26), but were lately up about 0.3% a day after crude tumbled nearly 5% on disappointment that OPEC didn't take more aggressive measures to cut production. Gold prices rose $8.80, or 0.7%, to $1,265.20 an ounce.

Read:Here's a lesson OPEC could learn from soybean farmers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-a-lesson-opec-could-learn-from-soybean-farmers-2017-05-25)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 26, 2017 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT)

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