WASHINGTON: Lagging tech and energy stocks helped pull US stocks mostly into the red on Friday, ending the trading week on a nervous note with Hurricane Irma and North Korea on investors’ risk radars over the weekend. The S&P 500 ended the day with an 0.13 per cent loss to 2,461.8, with energy and technology sectors providing the biggest drag. That helped offset gains for utilities as well as financials, which rose 0.65 per cent on the day thanks to a strong showing from insurance and reinsurance stocks after a string of hurricane-induced sell-offs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with a slight gain of 0.06 per cent to 21,797.8. In keeping with the hurricane theme, insurers Travelers and home-supply store Home Depot led the Dow’s gainers. Ahead of its product launch next week, Apple was down 1.6 per cent. A broadly weak showing for tech stocks also contributed to an 0.59 per cent drop for the Nasdaq, to 6,360. The dollar also ended the day weaker, with an 0.37 per cent drop against a basket of major currencies to 91.32. With Hurricane Irma closing in on Florida, US crude prices dropped sharply. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate, the US standard, dropped more than 3 per cent to $47.57, while Brent, the international benchmark, was largely spared, falling just 0.13 per cent on the day to $53.71. So-called haven assets, however, continued to hold their appeal. Gold ended the day near a one-year high, up to $1,347.8 per troy ounce. Yield on the 10-year US Treasury ticked up slightly to 2.06 per cent.
