Nasdaq down ~1%, S&P 500 off ~0.5%, Dow lower by ~0.2%
Comm Svcs weakest S&P 500 sector; Utilities leads gainers
Dollar rallies; bitcoin up >1%; crude rises >2%; gold dips
US 10-Year Treasury yield edges up to ~4.28%
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WHY TECH MAY BE HOLDING UP BETTER THAN THE BROADER MARKET
U.S. technology-related names have largely outperformed the broader market since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. That may be because investors are taking a longer-term perspective, said Ayako Yoshioka, portfolio consulting director at Wealth Enhancement, in an interview with Reuters.
"A lot of the times when you look back at history you see during these geopolitical conflicts, and the sectors that do perform well coming out of this six months later tend to be tech, so I think that's part of the reason why we're seeing that," she said.
While the S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT is underperforming on Friday, the group is down just 0.8% for March while the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX is down 3.4%.
And among shares up so far for March are those of software companies that had sold off sharply in February as investors worried about disruption from artificial intelligence.
The S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS, while down 1.3% on Friday, is up more than 2% since the end of February.
Many of the software companies that had fallen "are still generating double-digit revenue growth and double-digit earnings growth," Yoshioka said.
"There's this narrative that they're going to be disrupted with AI. It takes a lot longer to fully disrupt..." she said. "You're not seeing large swaths of clients just ditch them and go to someone else."
Also companies are going to be figuring out ways to adapt with AI, and prepare for changes, she said, adding that there's money to be made in that area in the intermediate term.
She thinks the broader technology sector is a good bet for the longer term.
"In the long term, you still want to be overweight technology, and you want it to be balanced out with some solid healthcare and industrials that provide a little bit of defensive and cyclical growth."
(Caroline Valetkevitch)
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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:
IN UNCERTAIN TIMES, THE VIX CAN BE A BEACON CLICK HERE
INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR BEARS JUMP TO A 4-MONTH HIGH - AAII CLICK HERE
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN: GDP, PCE, JOLTS, DURABLE GOODS, UMICH CLICK HERE
WALL STREET INDEXES LOOK TO ERASE SOME LOSSES CLICK HERE
US STOCK FUTURES ADD SLIGHTLY TO GAINS IN WAKE OF DATA FLOOD CLICK HERE
ECB HAWKS CIRCLING CLICK HERE
THE DOLLAR IS BACK, BABY! CLICK HERE
CHINA HAS OPTIONS TO EASE OIL MARKET PRESSURE CLICK HERE
MOVING LOWER CLICK HERE
BEFORE THE BELL: BRENT ABOVE $100 NOT GOOD FOR STOCKS CLICK HERE
MORNING BID EUROPE-CRUDE SHOCK CLICK HERE
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