Dow closes more than 100 points lower Friday, ekes out a weekly gain: Live updates

Stocks ended the week higher, but closed the day with mixed performance among the major indexes.

The S&P 500 ticked up by 0.08% to end at 4,783.83. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed just above flat, adding 0.02% to settle at 14,972.76. The Dow Jones industrial Average lost 118.04 points, or 0.31%, to close at 37,592.98.

All three major averages posted weekly gains. The S&P 500 climbed 1.8%, while the Nasdaq added 3.1%. The Dow inched higher by 0.3%.

— Pia Singh

A “benign” macroeconomic backdrop should mean a solid earnings season, according to UBS.

In the fourth quarter, the economy remained healthy, read a Thursday note from the firm. Unemployment remained low even as the labor market cooled, real wages rose, and consumer finances remained intact.

As such, UBS expects that company earnings will have risen 4% to 5% in the fourth quarter from the year-ago period, implying earnings beats of 3% to 5%. “Putting it all together, the macro data suggests a fine 4Q23 earnings season,” read the note.

However, with a soft landing largely priced into equities, the Wall Street firm advised investors to wait for better entry points. For June and December, UBS has S&P 500 price targets of 4,900 and 5,000, respectively. The broader index was last around 4,780.

— Sarah Min

U.S. crude oil prices on Friday followed a familiar pattern in response to mounting Middle East tensions, briefly spiking on the latest escalation before fading later in the day.

West Texas Intermediate futures briefly broke $75 a barrel after U.S. and British airstrike on Houthi militants in Yemen, put pulled back later in the session to settle $72.68. Brent futures broke $80 a barrel before settling at $78.29.

Several tanker companies on Friday halted traffic toward the Red Sea after the airstrikes. But traders still do not seem convinced that a broader Middle East conflict could erupt and disrupt crude supplies. Analysts say the Strait of Hormuz is the real potential flashpoint that could send prices higher.

“The market is going to wait to see whether we see this spread to a significant waterway for oil like the Strait of Hormuz,” Helima Croft with RBC Capital Markets told CNBC on Friday.

— Spencer Kimball

The holiday-shortened trading week following Martin Luther King Day is usually weak for stocks, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

In the median year between 1998 and 2023, the S&P 500 lost about 0.3% in the four-day trading week after the holiday, Bespoke data shows. The S&P 500 has finished the week up just 38% of the time.

In 2024, that period is next week. The market will be closed on Monday in observance of the holiday.

— Alex Harring

A new CEO for cosmetics and flavors ingredient company International Flavors & Fragrances is a positive catalyst — and now is a perfect time for investors to buy the stock,  according to Jeffries. The firm upgraded IFF shares to buy from hold after IFF announced the CEO change on Thursday, effective Feb. 6. 

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Hakyung Kim

Tesla will halt most of its production at its Berlin production plant from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11, the company disclosed on Thursday, due to a lack of parts stemming from shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.

Tesla is the latest company to warn of delivery delays due to supply chain constraints in the Red Sea, following Chinese automaker Geely and home furniture company Ikea. The electric vehicle maker is the first company to outright announce output interference directly tied to the crisis in the Red Sea, however.

— Brian Evans

The Grayscale Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) captured the most retail trader dollars invested in newly approved funds tied to the cryptocurrency on Thursday.

Thursday was the first session following a rule change from the Securities and Exchange Commission that allowed bitcoin ETFs to trade. The policy update was seen as a catalyst in expanding access for individual traders to invest in the controversial digital currency.

Greyscale’s ETF saw the highest net inflows from everyday investors of the 11 approved funds in the session, snagging $28.4 million. That’s according to data compiled by Vanda Research. (Net inflows calculate the total retail dollars sent into the fund subtracted by the amount these investors pulled out.)

The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) won the next biggest inflows but trailed Greyscale’s haul, notching $11.4 million on net.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF (DEFI) saw the smallest net inflows with $7,000. The Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) and Wisdomtree Bitcoin ETF (BTCW) posted the second and third worst net inflows at $28,000 and $29,000, respectively.

— Alex Harring

Bitcoin mining stocks extended big losses from Thursday as the price of the cryptocurrency slid to end what should have been a momentous week for it.

CleanSpark dropped 10%, Iris Energy tumbled more than 14%, Marathon Digital slid 12.5% and Riot Platforms retreated 6%.

Investors were taking profits after the price of bitcoin briefly spiked above $49,000 for the first time since December 2021, sending mining stocks up with it. Bitcoin has since pulled back to around $43,000.

Miners were some of the biggest gainers in the stock market in 2023. Marathon finished last year higher by almost 590%, while Riot rose more than 350%. CleanSpark and Iris Energy both posted gains of more than 400%.

Beyond miners, Coinbase and Microstrategy were lower by 5% and 7%, respectively.

— Tanaya Macheel

Boeing is on track to notch its worst week in more than a year and a half, with investors on edge after a door plug blew out midflight.

Shares have dropped 12.8% so far this week as traders followed the latest updates after the detachment during an Alaska Airlines flight last week. That would mark the plane maker’s worst week since May 2022, when the stock lost 14.6%.

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9s for inspection last weekend. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said this week that the company has acknowledged its mistake.

The Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG) hit its highest level since 2022 during Friday’s as several names reached all-time records.

The ETF was last up more than 1% in the session. At one point, it reached its most expensive level going back to May of 2022.

It was helped in the session by Check Point, CrowdStrike, CyberArk and Palo Alto, which all notched new intraday highs. Varonis and Zscaler also both touched their most expense levels in more than a year.

That gain put the fund on pace to end the week up by 8.6%. That would be its biggest gain since a week in November 2022, when the ETF advanced 11.3%.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

Check out some of the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Airline stocks — United Airlines and Delta Air Lines saw their shares tumble 9% and 8%, respectively. The action came after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would audit Boeing’s production line following the partial blowout of the Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. Boeing shares slipped 2% on the back of the probe. United said it already found loose hardware on plane of the same typeTesla — Shares of the electric vehicle maker slipped about 4% following price cuts on the Model 3 and Model Y in China. The company also said on Thursday that it would temporarily halt production at its factory in Germany over supply chain constraints stemming from attacks in the Red Sea.CVS Health — Shares slid 2.5% after the pharmacy chain said it was shuttering select pharmacies inside Target stores early this year. CVS didn’t disclose the number of closures, although The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that it would be in the “dozens.”

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Franklin Templeton, a unit of Franklin Resources, waived all fees on its Franklin Bitcoin ETF until Aug. 2 as long as the fund stays below $10 billion in assets, and will charge 19 basis points (0.19%) thereafter, according to its latest SEC filing.

“We’re excited and encouraged by the strong investor interest we’re seeing for spot bitcoin ETFs,” said David Mann, head of ETF product and capital markets for Franklin Templeton. The fund’s initial fee waiver, and low fee structure, he said was a demonstration of Franklin’s “commitment to the product and future of digital assets…We think this sends a clear signal to investors: we’re here for the long run.”

Many of the bitcoin ETFs introduced Thursday have also waived their initial fees, but their permanent fees after the waiver are higher than Franklin’s. For example, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF is set at 0.20% after an initial waiver on the first $1 billion in the fund.

Several other funds are close behind, including the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF at 0.21% and the iShares Bitcoin Trust at 0.25%.

— Scott Schnipper, Jesse Pound

U.S. crude oil prices spiked more than 4% to top $75 on Friday morning after the Biden administration launched airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen.

West Texas Intermediate futures jumped to $75.25 a barrel earlier in the trading session while the global benchmark Brent touched $80.75.

WTI was last up 3.32% at $74.41 a barrel while Brent was at $79.89. The benchmarks were both trading above their 50-day moving averages for the first time since late October.

The U.S. and British airstrikes are in response to repeated attacks by the militants on commercial shipping the Red Sea.

— Spencer Kimball

Shares of Citigroup were fractionally higher on Friday after CEO Jane Fraser announced a new wave of job cuts to boost the bank’s stock price and earnings results.

Citigroup said that 20,000 employees, or around 10% of its workforce, would be let go in the “medium term” as part of a new corporate overhaul. Shares had earlier gained nearly 2% on the back of the news.

The layoff announcement was made after the bank posted a $1.8 billion loss in its fourth-quarter, which was tied to various risks and expenses. The company’s fourth-quarter revenue came in at $17.44 billion, lower than the $18.75 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

— Lisa Kailai Han

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday warned about the longer-term trend for inflation and market expectations for interest rates.

Dimon noted that U.S. economic growth is being fueled by “large amounts of government deficit spending and past stimulus.”

“There is also an ongoing need for increased spending due to the green economy, the restructuring of global supply chains, higher military spending and rising healthcare costs,” he said in a statement issued with the bank’s fourth-quarter earnings release. “This may lead inflation to be stickier and rates to be higher than markets expect.”

In addition, the head of the largest U.S. bank by assets criticized new global rules for the industry known as “Basel Endgame” and said said JPMorgan is taking a “cautious” approach in 2024 due to an array of potential trouble signs such as wars in Ukraine and Middle East and monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve.

—Jeff Cox

Wells Fargo‘s stock price fell more than 1% even after topping revenue expectations for the fourth quarter.

The bank reported total revenues of $20.48 billion, topping and LSEG estimate of $20.30 billion. However, Wells Fargo warned that net interest income could come in 7% to 9% lower in 2024.

Provisions for credit losses also rose 34% to $1.28 billion from $957 million a year ago. The bank said that allowances for credit losses rose for credit card and commercial real estate loans.

The producer price index was dipped 0.1% in December, a sign that inflation may be easing. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 0.1%.

— Fred Imbert

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading.

Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle company fell more than 3% in premarket trading after Tesla cut prices on both the Model 3 and the Model Y in China a day earlier. The company also said its production plant in Berlin will face disruptions due to shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.

Delta Air Lines — The airline stock dropped nearly 5%. Delta Air Lines reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.28 per share, topping the LSEG consensus estimate of $1.17 earnings per share. Revenue of $13.52 billion came in line with estimates. Separately, the company announced a deal with Airbus to buy 20 A350-1000s, with deliveries set to start in 2026.

JPMorgan Chase — The financial giant added nearly 2% after fourth-quarter revenue topped expectations. However, JPMorgan Chase reported a 15% year-over-year profit decline for the October-December period.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

JPMorgan Chase shares were up more than 2% in the premarket even after the bank reported a fourth-quarter profit decline due to a $2.9 billion fee related to last year’s regional bank failures.

Specifically, the bank said earnings dropped 15% to 9.31 billion on a year-over-year basis.

— Fred Imbert, Hugh Son