Wall St slips on higher yields, fall in chipmaker stocks

Wall St slips on higher yields, fall in chipmaker stocks

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Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

  • US retail sales beat expectations in September
  • BofA profit rises, Goldman Sachs profit plunges in Q3
  • Biden administration to halt China AI chip shipments
  • Indexes: Dow down 0.2%, S&P 500 down 0.2%, Nasdaq down 0.3%

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were slightly lower in afternoon trading on Tuesday as Treasury yields rose and shares of chipmakers fell after the Biden administration said it planned to halt shipments of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) was down 1.1% and shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) were down 4.7% even though the world’s most valuable chipmaker said it does not expect a near-term meaningful impact on financial results from the curbs.

U.S. Treasury yields rose on robust economic data. Higher yields dull the allure of stocks by offering investors comparatively high income on risk-free government bonds.

Helping to limit the declines, though, were upbeat earnings reports from companies including Bank of America(BAC.N), whose stock was up 2.3% following its quarterly results.

“We had some pretty good earnings from most of the major companies reporting today… but the indices are running up a brick wall as yields go higher,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 67.92 points, or 0.2%, to 33,916.62, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 8.67 points, or 0.20%, to 4,364.96 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 46.54 points, or 0.34%, to 13,521.44.

Investors also are still anxiously watching news on the Middle East. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to visit Israel on Wednesday, after Washington said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gazans.

Data earlier showed U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in September, compared with estimates of a 0.3% rise, while a separate reading showed production at U.S. factories increased more than expected in September.

In other earnings news, Goldman Sachs’s (GS.N) third-quarter profit dropped less than expected. But its shares were down 2.1%.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.35-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.75-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and six new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 124 new lows.

Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Deepa Babington

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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