Stocks fall on Wall Street, giving up week’s gains

By DAMIAN J. TROISE
AP Business Writer

Stocks fell broadly in morning trading on Wall Street Friday as the market heads for a feeble ending to an up-and-down week of trading.

Trading has been choppy throughout the week. Investors have received a mixed bag of economic data reflecting how the economy is weathering a spike in COVID-19 cases and how it might continue its recovery in the coming months.

Wall Street is also keeping a close watch on the Federal Reserve. Investors are looking for more information on how it plans to eventually ease support for low interest rates. The central bank meets next week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% as of 11:46 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 197 points, or 0.6%, to 34,553 and the Nasdaq fell 1%.

Nearly 80% of stocks within the benchmark S&P 500 fell and every sector was broadly lower. The index has been moving back and forth from daily gains to daily losses since Monday and is now on track for a second straight week of losses.

Technology companies were the biggest drag on the market. A mix of communications and industrial companies also fell broadly. Apple fell 1.5% and Facebook fell 1.9%.

Companies that rely on direct consumer spending rose. Travel-related and retail stocks made solid gains. Carnival rose 1.9% and Gap rose 1.2%.

Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.37% from 1.33% late Thursday.

Oil prices fell 1.3% and natural gas prices fell 2.1%.

Much of this week’s economic data pointed to an economy struggling to move forward in the last few months. Inflation remains a concern for businesses, which are dealing with supply chain problems and facing higher costs. Concerns about the highly contagious delta variant also have analysts’ concerned that consumer spending, a key piece of economic growth, could stall.

Lab equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific jumped 7.2% after giving investors an encouraging business update.