Wall St ends volatile session lower after global tech outage
Cybersecurity stocks rise after outage
Intuitive hits record high after quarterly results beat
Travelers Companies weighs on Dow
Updates to market close
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks extended their slump on Friday as lingering chaos related to a global technical outage caused by a software glitch added uncertainty to an already-anxious market.
The worldwide tech outage disrupted operations across multiple industries including airlines, banking and healthcare after the glitch in cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike's CRWD.O software caused Microsoft's MSFT.O Windows operating system to crash.
While the flaw was identified and fixes deployed, technical issues continue to affect some services.
Crowdstrike shares slid, while rival cybersecurity firms Palo Alto Networks PANW.O and SentinelOne S.N advanced.
All three major U.S. stock indexes ended in negative territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial average suffering the worst of it.
On a weekly basis, both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 logged their worst week since April, while the Dow, having reached a series of all-time closing highs earlier in the week, posted a Friday-to-Friday gain.
"This tech outage adds some uncertainty and puts pressure on the overall Nasdaq," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut. "But it won’t have much of an overall impact. Some buying will be delayed. Not only is it a summer Friday but because of the outage (investors) are in wait-and-see mode."
"They're sitting on the sidelines," Pavlik added. "That's what happens to the stock market when volatility rules the day."
The CBOE Market volatility index .VIX, considered a gauge of investor anxiety, touched its highest level since late April.
The smallcap Russell 2000 .RUT - a beneficiary of a recent pivot away from megacap growth stocks - ended modestly lower.
Nvidia shares NVDA.O led a sell-off in chips. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX underperformed the broader market.
Elsewhere, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams reiterated the central bank's commitment to bringing inflation down to its 2% target.
Financial markets have priced in a 93.5% likelihood that the Fed will enter a rate-cutting phase at the conclusion of its September meeting, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 38.69 points, or 0.70%, to end at 5,505.90 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 144.28 points, or 0.81%, to 17,726.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 376.45 points, or 0.93%, to 40,288.57.
Second-quarter earnings season approaches the end of its first full week, with 70 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 83% have beaten consensus, according to LSEG.
Analysts now see aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 11.1%, an improvement over the 10.6% estimate as of July 1.
Next week, a swath of high-profile results is expected from Tesla TSLA.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O, IBM IBM.N, General Motors GM.N, Ford F.N and a host of other companies.
"It's early in earns season, but things have been impressive," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha, Nebraska. "But the big boys are starting to report next week and what we want to hear is how strong the consumer is and what's the outlook for future economic growth."
Eli Lilly LLY.N advanced after China approved its weight-loss drug tirzepatide, while Intuitive Surgical ISRG.O jumped after a second-quarter results beat.
Travelers TRV.N tumbled on lower-than-expected growth in net written premiums.
Netflix NFLX.O fell in choppy trading after the streaming giant cautioned third-quarter subscriber additions would be lower than a year earlier.
Oilfield services provider SLB SLB.N rose after strong second-quarter profit.
RUT vs SPX YTD https://reut.rs/4dccgGR
Reporting by Stephen Culp in New York
Additional reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru
Editing by Devika Syamnath and Matthew Lewis
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
