Lucas Jackson/Reuters
- US stocks ended the week lower on Friday amid a five-day losing streak for the S&P 500.
- Apple stock fell after a judge ruled against the iPhone maker in its legal battle with Epic Games.
US stocks closed lower on Friday as concerns about future economic growth helped drive a five-day losing streak for the S&P 500.
A weak August jobs report and comments from the Federal Reserve's August beige book suggest investors continue to worry about the ongoing surge of the COVID-19 delta variant and its impact on the economy. A weaker economic growth outlook has investors questioning when the Federal Reserve may begin to wind down its monthly $120 billion bond purchases.
A near 4% sell-off in shares of Apple helped drag down the broader markets throughout Friday's trading session, as a judge ruled that the company can't restrict app-developers from including external links to circumvent Apple's 30% app store commissions.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday:
- S&P 500 : 4,458.55, down 0.77%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average : 34,607.46, down 0.78% (271.92 points)
- Nasdaq Composite : 15,115.49, down 0.87%
Shares of buy now, pay later provider Affirm soared as much as 22% on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected revenue for its fiscal fourth-quarter, and raised revenue guidance for its fiscal year of 2022.
President Joe Biden had a more than hour-long conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, as hope builds that trade relations between the two countries will be improved.
Democratic senators Ron Wyden and Sherrod Brown introduced a bill that would implement a 2% tax on corporate stock buybacks. If passed, the tax is expected to raise more than $100 billion over the next decade and help pay for Democrat's $3.5 trillion spending plans.
Cathie Wood's Ark Invest sold more than $100 million worth of Tesla this week , according to daily trade updates. The sales come even as Ark believes Tesla could soar 300% from current levels.
Harvard said the university's $42 billion endowment would end direct investments in fossil fuel and oil exploration companies.
Oil prices jumped. West Texas Intermediate crude was up as much as 2.42%, to $69.79 per barrel. Brent crude , oil's international benchmark, jumped 2.18%, to $73.01 per barrel.
Gold fell as much as 0.44%, to $1,792.00 per ounce.
Via PakApNews