U.S. stocks close mixed as retail sales decline

Albany [New York] (USA) , February 15: U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday after hitting near-record highs the previous day, as investors assessed economic data and corporate earnings.
The S&P 500 briefly surpassed its previous record close of 6,118.71 from January before retreating. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.37 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.41 percent.
Airbnb led the S&P 500 with a 14 percent gain following a strong earnings report. However, the index was weighed down by health services, with DaVita plunging around 11 percent. The Dow's decline was driven by weakness in the consumer non-durables sector, as Procter & Gamble slid 4.7 percent.
Investors weighed corporate earnings and economic data, including a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. retail sales. The retail sales dropped 0.9 percent in January, a sharper decline than economists had anticipated, largely driven by a 3 percent slump in car sales.
Spending fell across nearly all categories tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau. The weak retail data led to a sharp drop in the U.S. Treasury yields, with the 10-year yield falling to 4.48 percent from 4.53 percent.
"It looks like the economy and inflation aren't runaway accelerating, causing pressure on rates," said Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. He said the recent move downward in the 10-year Treasury yield is "improving breadth, but it's also lifting asset prices on the equity side because of that correlation dynamic."
Major technology stocks showed mixed performance, with Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon posting slight losses. Broadcom and Tesla declined by 1 percent, while Apple, Nvidia, and Meta each gained around 1 percent.
Source: Xinhua News Agency