Wall St choppy after strong GDP figures, FBI review

US stocks rose after upbeat growth figures, but closed lower after the FBI said it was reviewing new Clinton emails.

US stocks rose after GDP figures beat expectations. Picture: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.

US stocks fell overnight, ending a week dominated by quarterly earnings reports.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent. The weekly losses coincided with a selloff in government bonds.

On Friday, stocks pulled back from earlier gains after the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was reviewing new evidence in connection with its investigation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email server.

Some of the initial selling was likely triggered by algorithmic trading platforms that analyze news headlines for certain words or phrases, mark them as negative or positive, and buy and sell stocks or bonds accordingly, some traders said.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent shortly before the news, then quickly reversed those gains and ended down 0.3 per cent. The yield on 10-year US Treasury note fell to 1.834 per cent, according to Tradeweb, before bouncing back to 1.847 per cent -- its highest yield since May 27.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day less than 0.1 per cent lower, while the Nasdaq lost 0.5 per cent.

The price of gold jumped after falling earlier in the day. Gold for November delivery gained 0.6 per cent to $US1,275.50.

Investors and traders have been nervous in recent weeks ahead of the US presidential election, making the market susceptible to shifts in expectations about who will win.

“The next week before the election will keep the market on edge,” said Kenny Polcari, director of equities at O’Neil Securities, adding that he expects more surprises that could swing stocks.

Earlier Friday, stocks were rising after the Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at an inflation- and seasonally adjusted 2.9 per cent annual rate in the third quarter, exceeding the second quarter’s pace of 1.4 per cent.

The improved US economic data helped offset several weaker-than-expected quarterly results from US companies, capping a busy week for corporate earnings reports. More than half of S&P 500 companies have reported so far.

McKesson shares tumbled 23 per cent after the health-care giant cut its profit outlook for the year. Amgen shares fell 9.6 per cent as the drugmaker reported a drop in sales of its cancer-care drug Neupogen, which started facing competition late last year.

Health-care stocks in the S&P 500 fell 2.2 per cent.

Shares in Amazon.com fell 5.2 per cent after the online retail giant late Thursday posted its lowest quarterly profit in a year.

Despite Friday’s declines, so far the earnings season is shaping up to be better than downbeat expectations.

“Overall, the mini earnings recession is coming to an end,” said Chris Jeffery, an asset-allocation strategist at Legal & General Investment Management. “That’s largely about the energy and materials sectors coming out of their slump,” he added.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, cut its revenue forecast, sending its shares down 4.3 per cent in Europe. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.3 per cent, losing 1 per cent for the week.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6 per cent Friday and 1.5 per cent for the week.

Dow Jones