Wall Street slips as energy, industrials eclipse tech
Stocks fell on Friday as weak industrial and energy shares overshadowed robust results from technology heavy-weights Microsoft and Amazon.com.
Energy shares slid as crude prices lost more than 1 percent to fall to around $80 a barrel on caution about demand and high inventory levels. Oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd
Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp
But the Nasdaq fared better than the other indexes to trade flat after major earnings beats from Microsoft Corp
But the tech space was not without its dark spots. Disappointing results from Broadcom Corp
You've got some very select leadership on the sector level from tech, said Craig Peckham, equity trading strategist at Jefferies & Company in New York.
Energy and industrials are holding the broader market back. You've got a bit of profit taking after the big run up in crude.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 76.41 points, or 0.76 percent, to 10,004.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> lost 9.70 points, or 0.89 percent, to 1,083.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was off 1.10 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,164.16.
In economic news, data showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged to their highest level in over two years in September, providing further evidence that the housing market was on the mend.
However, sales of both new and previously owned homes have been helped by a popular $8,000 government tax credit for first-time buyers and there are fears the expiration of the credit at the end of November could hamper the recovery.
The reality is that there's some skepticism of how much of this is representative of true demand. People are asking themselves, absent the tax credit, would this type of activity be generated? Peckham said.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
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