U.S. stocks were tempest tossed midday Friday, with major benchmarks seeing tenuous advances amid up-and-down action on Wall Street, as investors weighed COVID-19 vaccine mandates announced by President Joe Biden to fight the coronavirus delta variant that some worry is slowing the economic recovery.
How are stock-index futures trading?
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.24%
was trading 31 points, or less than 0.1%, lower to reach 34,846. The blue-chip index had opened about 224 points higher at its peak before hitting a Friday nadir at 34,714,25. - The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.18%
was down less than a point at 4,492, but had set an intraday high at 4,520.47 before hitting a low at 4,477.95. - The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
-0.17%
climbed 6 points, or less than 0.1%, higher to 15,253, trading in an intraday range between 15,349.47 and a low of 15,207.30.
On Thursday, the Dow industrials fell 151.69 points, or 0.4%, to end at 34,879.38, the S&P 500 index closed down 20.79 points, or 0.5%, to 4,493.28, and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished at 15,248.25, a loss of 38.38 points, or 0.3%.
What’s driving the market?
It’s a topsy-turvy Friday for U.S. stock indexes, with selling in shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc.
UNH,
and Apple Inc.
AAPL,
capping gains in the Dow industrials, which had been lower earlier in the session.
Earlier declines in the broad-market S&P 500’s consumer staples, energy and financials sectors, gave way to a modest rise that may be coming as investors opt to buy the market’s dips at the end of the week.
Friday’s volatility caps a holiday-shortened week that has seen the Dow and S&P 500 suffer losses for four consecutive days, marking the longest losing skid since June 18.
The week’s trading action comes amid concerns about the impact of the coronavirus delta variant on global economic growth in recent months.
Biden on Thursday announced new vaccine mandates, including a requirement that executive-branch employees as well as federal contractors vaccinate, with no test alternative. He is also discussing a Labor Department rule requiring businesses with 100 or more workers to ensure their employees are vaccinated or show a negative test result weekly or more frequently.
The U.S. is averaging just under 150,000 new cases a day, with only 53% of the population fully vaccinated, which is well behind many countries in Europe and Canada, according to a New York Times tracker.
While the focus is on rising COVID cases, markets are also watching the Federal Reserve for an indication of when it might taper its bond-buying purchases. Investors will have to wait until Sept. 21-22 for the next Federal Open…
Read More: Dow fights for direction as stock market beset by end-of-week turbulence