Experts have blamed another ‘quadruple witching’ event on the volatility that gripped US stock markets during the week.
The Dow Jones finished 1.5% lower, the S&P 500 was down 1% and the Nasdaq dropped just 0.1% as a series of option contract expirations coincided with what may well be the last trading day of the year with significant volume to allow investors to rebalance.
Omicron is surging around the world with New York reporting record case numbers and investors once again growing concerned about potential restrictions.
The value rotation has continued, with the likes of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) losing out in favour of the banking and energy sectors.
Over the week, the technology sector couldn’t overcome the move higher in interest rates, the Nasdaq sinking 3%, with the S&P 500 and Dow falling 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
FedEx upgrades outlook
Shares in courier business FedEx (NYSE: FDX) gained 5% after raising its outlook and confirming it expects a profit margin of 10% in the next two quarters as labour shortages subside.
The company remains well-positioned to benefit from the surge in e-commerce as the leader in US package deliveries.
US stock market movers
Here’s how other popular US stocks performed on Friday to close out the week.
- Cerner (NASDAQ: CERN) up 12.9%
- Teladoc (NASDAQ: TDOC) up 11.8%
- Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) up 9.5%
- Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) down 4.4%
- Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) down 6.4%
- Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) down 10.3%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to open relatively flat on Monday. For a round-up of the latest news, check out my ASX 200 morning report.