US open: Stocks on Wall Street pause for breath

(Sharecast News) - US stocks were drifting a tad lower at the end of the week, but only after the record highs notched up during the previous session as rate-cut hopes buoyed sentiment.

At 1452 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was off by 0.40% or 150.34 points at 39,632.31, alongside a 0.12% or 6.0 point dip on the S&P 500 to 5,234.03.

The Nasdaq Composite meanwhile was nearly flat at 16,402.25.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Equity markets have roared higher after the Federal Reserve signalled it's not worried about sticky core inflation and still plans to cut three times this year.

"Even this, it should be noted, represents far fewer cuts than the market had anticipated at the start of the year. Its ability to digest such a change in rates futures is indicative of the bullishness, and the fact that an awful lot of money has been printed and will be printed. Central banks are keen to top up the punchbowl; if the last mile on inflation is so hard, why tire yourself out needlessly?"

In corporate news, FedEx surged 8% after the delivery and logistics giant lifted its 2024 guidance and unveiled plans to buy back $5bn of shares following a better-than-expected third quarter.

Lululemon was plummeting 19%, however, after the athletic clothing retailer's guidance fell short of expectations.

Nike was in the red by 8% after warning that sales will take a hit this year as it works to realign merchandise to better match what shoppers are after.

Tesla was down by 2% following a Bloomberg report that it has cut production at its plant in China amid sluggish growth in electric vehicle sales and intense competition in the world's biggest auto market.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $190.77 1.64% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $124.29 0.54% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $172.08 0.41% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $192.68 0.40% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $226.83 0.31% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $156.11 0.23% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $60.59 0.20% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $162.18 0.20% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $492.14 0.09% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.92 0.08%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $92.53 -8.19% Visa Inc. (V) $284.66 -1.79% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $408.74 -0.99% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $391.70 -0.86% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $361.94 -0.73% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $426.82 -0.59% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $116.00 -0.58% Intel Corp. (INTC) $42.18 -0.57% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $307.19 -0.50% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $20.70 -0.46%

S&P 500 - Risers

FedEx Corp. (FDX) $286.38 8.13% Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIV) $8.10 3.71% Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $24.53 3.68% AES Corp. (AES) $16.16 2.54% Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $151.24 2.47% Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $82.36 2.39% Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $152.23 2.35% Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) $65.09 1.96% Becton, Dickinson & Company (BDX) $245.68 1.68% Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $17.48 1.57%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $92.53 -8.22% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.63 -4.97% Altria Group Inc. (MO) $43.26 -3.76% VF Corp. (VFC) $14.02 -3.61% Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $37.23 -3.27% Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $19.44 -3.04% Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $7.16 -2.85% Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $142.12 -2.82% Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $46.93 -2.78% Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $6.90 -2.68%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $151.24 2.47% Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $152.23 2.35% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $927.85 1.48% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $45.20 1.16% Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $1,363.66 1.16% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $8.69 1.05% Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $84.75 0.76% Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.85 0.69% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $626.57 0.62% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $137.10 0.52%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $133.99 -2.51% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $215.79 -2.25% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $1.18 -2.07% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.50 -2.03% Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $589.97 -2.00% Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $972.57 -1.84% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $169.71 -1.80% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $107.93 -1.75% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $502.75 -1.66% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $316.06 -1.62%