S&P 500 Moves Off Lows, but Stumbling Tech Piles on Pressure Amid Rate Hike Fears

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 moved off session lows Thursday, but remained under pressure as big tech continued to stumble amid rising Treasury yields as investors price in the prospect of more rate hikes.

The S&P 500 fell 0.60%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% or 16 points, the Nasdaq was down 1.1%

Tech added to losses from a day earlier as the 10-year Treasury yield traded close to highs for the year after the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell indicated Wednesday that rates will have to be raised to a higher level than previously expected.

“The FOMC hiked rates by 75bp at its November meeting and underscored that ongoing increases will be necessary,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) led the move to the downside for big tech falling more than 3%, followed by Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

“If Apple, Amazon and Microsoft keep going lower, then it’ll be awful hard for the S&P 500 to rise as these companies make up such a large share of the market,” John Luke Tyner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, said in an interview with Investing.com on Wednesday.

This move lower could push the S&P 500 to about 3,200, well below current levels of about 3,729, John says, leading to a “more reasonable valuation multiple on the S&P 500 to about a 14-or-15 times [price over earnings multiple].”

The earnings front, meanwhile, delivered mixed quarterly results.

Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UAA) climbed more than 13% after reporting quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street estimates, though the athletic apparel maker did narrow guidance amid a “challenging retail environment.”

Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) cut gains to trade more than 5% higher as management said the connected fitness equipment remained on track to achieve break-even cash flow by the second half of next year. The comments offset quarterly results that showed a wider than expected loss in Q3.

Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) reported a beat on both the top and bottom lines in Q3, though warned of lower revenue in the final quarter of the year as rising mortgage rates weighs on demand.

Energy rose more than 2%, shrugging off falling oil prices, but some see prices resuming their trend higher as an end of the sales from the strategic petroleum reserve could exacerbate supply concerns. 

In other news, Boeing (NYSE:BA), a major Dow component, jumped after the aircraft maker detailed plans to increase production and deliveries of new aircraft.