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US STOCKS-Nasdaq headed for worst week in a year as tech stocks drop

Published 05/03/2021, 18:21
Updated 05/03/2021, 18:24
© Reuters.

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Oracle rises on Barclays upgrade
* S&P 500, Nasdaq set for third straight weekly loss
* Energy sector hits a fresh one-year high
* Indexes down: Dow 0.4%, S&P 0.7%, Nasdaq 1.9%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar
March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slumped in volatile trading
on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq heading for its worst week
since March 2020, as fears over rising borrowing costs offset
optimism about a strong economic rebound following blowout
monthly jobs report.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR hit a
new one-year high of 1.626% after nonfarm payrolls increased by
379,000 jobs last month, blowing past a rise of 182,000 forecast
by economists polled by Reuters. The three major indexes gained in early session on prospects
of an improving economic outlook.
"Investors are still trying to figure what they want in a
battle between continued easy fiscal policies or an actual
economical recovery which would require higher rates and they
haven't made that decision yet," said Randy Frederick, vice
president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in
Austin.
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV , which is heavily
comprised of cyclical stocks such as financials and energy,
outperformed with its 0.3% drop versus the tech-heavy Russell
1000 growth index .RLG , which shed 1.7%.
Focus is also on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill, as a
sharply divided U.S. Senate began what was expected to be a long
debate over a slew of amendments on how that money would be
spent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are headed for their third
straight weekly decline as a recent spike in Treasury yields
dented demand for high-flying technology stocks.
Rising interest rates disproportionately hurt high-growth
tech companies because investors value them based on earnings
expected years into the future, and high interest rates hurt the
value of future earnings more than the value of earnings made in
the short term.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq is about 11% below its Feb. 12 closing
high. If the index closes 10% below that level, it would confirm
a correction.
At 11:42 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 124.21 points, or 0.40%, to 30,799.93 and the S&P 500
.SPX lost 27.94 points, or 0.74%, to 3,740.53.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 241.64 points, or 1.90%,
to 12,480.41, weighed down by a near 10% fall in Tesla Inc's
TSLA.O shares that sent them to three-month lows.
The FAANG + TM .NYFANG which constitutes the core FANG
group, has wiped about almost $900 billion in market value since
its peak on Feb. 16.
Energy stocks .SPNY were in a bright spot, climbing for
the third straight day to a new one-year high as oil prices
soared. O/R
Oracle Corp ORCL.O jumped about 6% after Barclays upgraded
the business software maker to "overweight" expecting
improvement in the IT spending environment. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.5-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 85 new highs and 52 new lows.

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