5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday
The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Times Square in New York City, U.S. December 3, 2021, the Nasdaq Market site. The Nasdaq index was set to close on Friday after a weak forecast from Netflix sent its shares along with other streaming companies spiraling lower, with Wall Street's main indexes headed for another week of losses.
Shares of technology and media companies including Walt Disney Co DIS.N ViacomCBS and Roku ROKU.O that have invested heavily in streaming also fell between 2.2% and 4.0%.
On Thursday, analysts said there were doubts about the business prospects of pandemic market favorites like Netflix and Peloton Interactive PTON.O.
Peloton's shares rebounded slightly after the chief executive denied a report that the exercise bike maker was halting production and it estimated that its second-quarter revenue would be about $1.14 billion, compared to the previous forecast of $1.1 billon to $1.2 billion. The pandemic winners are under pressure and that will likely continue. The expectations of investors were a bit stretched. Other megacap growth companies such as Microsoft MSFT.O Tesla TSLA.O and Apple AAPL.O are expected to report earnings next week.
Wall Street's main indexes tracked at least three straight weeks of declines, with the S&P 500 SPX and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC set for their worst week since October 2020. On Wednesday, the Nasdaq closed more than 10% below its all-time high hit in November, confirming that it was in correction territory.
The tech-heavy index is under pressure due to rising Treasury yields and expectations of a more aggressive Federal Reserve in controlling inflation.
Consumer prices rose to its highest level in four decades in the last four decades, after the central bank's policy meeting next week will give more clarity on its fight against inflation.
If we get some clarity from the Fed Chair Jerome Powell by the middle of next week, the pressure on stocks can subside as investors get more comfortable with Lynch, according to some of the pressure on stocks.
The Dow e-minis were down 85 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 19.75 points, or 0.44%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 111.5 points, or 0.75%.
The second-largest single stock option expiry is due on Friday and could cause market volatility to be worse at the end of the session.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would prevent tech giants like Amazon.com from giving preference to their own businesses on their websites, despite hefty lobbying from top executives like Apple CEO Tim Cook.