MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Advance With S&P 500, Dow Poised For Weekly Gains

By Sue Chang and Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch

Tesla sinks following Elon Musk's soul-baring interview

U.S. stocks extended gains Friday with the Nasdaq joining the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average in positive territory as optimism that the U.S. and China will eventually resolve their trade standoff offset fears about Turkey's currency crisis.

However, weak tech names, notably Tesla Inc., Nvidia Corp., and Applied Materials Inc., are capping the Nasdaq's upside.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

The Dow industrials gained steam as the session progressed to rise 132 points, or 0.5%, at 25,690, while the S&P 500 index climbed 10 points, or 0.4%, to 2,851. The Nasdaq Composite reversed its direction to gain 8 points, or 0.1%, to 7,814.

The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), a popular index that tracks semiconductor manufacturers, was down 0.8% on weakness in quarterly results from chip makers Nvidia (NVDA) and Applied Materials (AMAT).

On Thursday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all rose with the blue-chip index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-point-to-gains-on-easing-geopolitical-concerns-cisco-results-2018-08-16) logging its best day since April.

The Dow and S&P 500 are on pace for weekly gains of 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively, while the Nasdaq is down 0.3%, hamstrung by weekly declines for Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)(GOOGL) over the past five sessions.

Read:This bull market in U.S. stocks stands just days away from the history books (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-is-about-to-make-history-2018-08-14)

What's driving markets?

Investors continue to monitor the latest developments on the trade front. On Thursday, there was cause for optimism as the U.S. and China prepared to resume trade talks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-says-it-will-resume-trade-talks-with-us-2018-08-16) next week. Officials from both countries are also working on a road map to reach some sort of a deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-china-plot-road-map-to-resolve-trade-dispute-by-november-2018-08-17-141032446) that will lead to a summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November, The Wall Street Journal reported.

But Turkey remains a concern with the Turkish currency down more than 4% against the U.S. dollar , with the buck buying 6.042 lira, compared with 5.8246 lira late Thursday in New York.

While geopolitical issues surrounding trade and Turkey will likely remain short-term market drivers, investors are also monitoring the final batch of second-quarter results, which are likely to neutralize some of the headwind from abroad.

What are strategists saying?

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Wealth Advisors, described Friday's slump as a "cooling off" in a seasonally choppy period for equity markets, with investors following disappointing results from chip makers and a revealing newspaper interview with Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk.

"It's a little cooling off period after yesterday and obviously everyone is watching Elon Musk and some of the chip makers too," Ablin said.

"Stock markets had a strong finish yesterday over renewed hopes of a resolution to the trade spat between the U.S. and China," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a note.

Which stocks are in focus?

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shares slumped 8.6% after Chief Executive Elon Musk told the New York Times (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/teslas-elon-musk-describes-excruciating-year-says-worst-is-yet-to-come-2018-08-17) the past year had been "excruciating" and "the most difficult and painful" of his career.

Nvidia and Applied Materials both reported earnings late Thursday. A decline in cryptocurrency-mining sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nvidia-stock-falls-as-crypto-mining-decline-overshadows-earnings-beat-2018-08-16) weighed on Nvidia, sending shares down 4.8%, while a weaker-than-expected guidance (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/applied-materials-stock-falls-after-earnings-beat-weak-guidance-2018-08-16) pushed Applied Materials shares down by 6.2%.

Nordstrom Inc.(JWN) soared 13% after the retailer posted better-than-expected earnings and raised its outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/big-boost-in-internet-sales-help-nordstrom-beat-on-earnings-raise-outlook-2018-08-16).

Farm-equipment maker Deere & Co.(DE) fell after issuing a downbeat growth outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deeres-stock-drops-after-revenue-beat-downbeat-growth-outlook-2018-08-17) but since has recovered to rise 2.7%.

DSW Inc. (DSW)shares sank (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dsw-shares-down-7-after-downgrade-on-margin-pressure-from-new-loyalty-program-2018-08-17) 5.7% after the stock was downgraded to negative from neutral at Susquehanna Financial Group due to higher costs and margin pressure.

Which economic data are in the spotlight?

The University of Michigan said its consumer-sentiment index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-sentiment-drops-to-11-month-low-in-august-2018-08-17) in August fell to 95.3, down from 97.9 in July, the lowest level in 11 months. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a reading of 98.5.

Meanwhile, U.S. leading economic indicators jumped 0.6% in July.

Check out:MarketWatch's Economic Calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)

What did other markets do?

European stocks were mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-flat-but-on-track-for-third-straight-down-week-2018-08-17) and Asian markets all rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-shoot-higher-as-tech-stocks-rebound-2018-08-16) except China's Shanghai Composite Index which closed down 1.3%, ending the week down 4.5% and marking the lowest close in nearly two years.

Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-higher-but-on-track-for-weekly-loss-on-supply-concerns-2018-08-17) were higher while gold settled mostly unchanged (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weaker-gold-heads-for-3-weekly-drop-2018-08-17) and the U.S. dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-slips-against-g10-but-rallies-against-emerging-currencies-2018-08-17) fell 0.5%.

--Victor Reklaitis contributed to this article

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2018 15:28 ET (19:28 GMT)

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