The U.S. stock market gave up some ground late Friday morning but stayed on track for gains for the week. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said in a Fox Business Network interview aired Friday that a final agreement with China on trade “will probably happen.”
Trump, though, fired some fresh trade shots on another front, saying the European Union “treats us as badly as China” does. Other news in Europe was bearish. Manufacturing in Germany contracted for a third month in a row, and the Eurozone PMI gauge fell short of estimates.
The Euro Stoxx 50, an index of Eurozone stocks, dropped 1.6%, while the Shanghai inched up 0.1%.
The Nasdaq led the major indexes’ retreat, shedding 1.8%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.5%. Blue chips as gauged in the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.4%. Small caps in the Russell 2000 lost 2.4%.
Bond yields were under pressure again, raising fears of an inverted yield curve. The 10-year Treasury yield was down 11 basis points to 2.43%. The 2-year yield was recently trading around 2.31%.
Kirkland Gold Up In Diving Stock Market
In the IBD 50, a gauge of top-rated stocks, Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) popped about 1.5%. The Canadian-based gold miner bounced off its 10-week moving average this week. A stock’s first trip to the 10-week line can provide an opportunity to add shares. However, volume on the decline to the 10-week line was stronger than that on the rebound.
Kirkland has been a strong performer. The stock is up 31% in 2019 vs. 17% for the Nasdaq.
Apple Holding Firm, But Dow Down
Dow Jones stock Apple (AAPL), which is up 23% so far this year, slipped 0.4% late Friday morning but was headed toward a 4% gain for the week. Apple is 16% off its high. The stock has risen in nine of the past 10 sessions, not including Friday.
In the 30-component Dow Jones, most stocks were down. Boeing (BA), the biggest weighting in the price-weighted Dow, dropped 2%. Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) also fell about 2.5% each.
Chipotle Upgrade
Leaderboard stock Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which has been on the comeback trail since bottoming about a year ago, coasted 0.9% higher in volume 25% above average. Wedbush upgraded the stock from underperform to neutral and raised the price target from 500 to 640. The 640 price target, though, is below the current price of about 675.
In the ETF space, the SPDR Financial (XLF) exchange traded fund dropped about 2.5%. The Innovator IBD 50 Fund (FFTY) and Innovator IBD Breakout Opportunities (BOUT) skidded 1.9% and 1.4% respectively.