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Stocks fell on Friday as investors digested a drop in semiconductor shares alongside weak data out of China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average came off its lows of the morning, to within 29.05 points of breakeven to 26,077.72, as Intel and Apple continued to lag.
The S&P 500 was down 6.48 points at 2,885.16, as the tech sector dropped 0.6%.
The NASDAQ Composite sank 39.62 points to 7,797.27.
Even so, the major U.S. stock indexes posted solid gains in the previous session, adding to this month’s sharp rally. The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ were all up more than 5% entering Friday’s session.
Chipmakers fell broadly after weak quarterly results from Broadcom, which ditched 6.3%. The chipmaker posted weaker-than-expected revenue for the previous quarter and cut its guidance for 2019, citing “broad-based ” demand weakness and the U.S. crackdown on Huawei.
Other semiconductor stocks also fell. Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Technology and Applied Materials all traded down more than 1% lower. Dow member Intel dropped 0.9%.
Economically speaking, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.5% in May, below the 0.6% gain expected by economists. However, April retail sales were revised higher. May sales were also up 0.5% when excluding auto, gas building materials and food.
Overseas, industrial production in China rose 5% last month on a year-over-year basis, the slowest pace of growth in 17 years.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 2.09% from Thursday’s 2.10%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced 43 cents to $52.71 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $10.60 at $1,354.30 U.S. an ounce.
