The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped Friday as traders parsed through the first batch of fourth-quarter earnings and digested the second in a pair of closely watched inflation reports this week.
The 30-stock Dow lost 118.04 points, or 0.31%, to close at 37,592.98. The S&P 500 ended the day 0.08% higher at 4,783.83, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed just above flat, gaining 0.02% to settle at 14,972.76.
UnitedHealth dragged the Dow lower, with the stock losing nearly 3.4% despite the company announcing higher-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. Delta Air Lines also fell nearly 9% even after exceeding quarterly earnings expectations.
A slew of big banks also reported earnings Friday. Bank of America lost about 1.1% after posting declining fourth-quarter profit, while Wells Fargo shares shed 3.3% despite posting a higher profit for the quarterly period. Shares of JPMorgan Chase lost 0.7% even after the bank said its earnings slipped by 15% from a year earlier.
Citigroup, meanwhile, added just above 1% after announcing the company is cutting 10% of its workforce. Earlier Friday, the bank posted a $1.8 billion quarterly loss after incurring several large charges.
"It's a little bit of reversal of some of the strong trends and rallies from Q4, but I think markets are in wait-and-see mode for inflation, but also what's going to happen with earnings season … the drivers of 2024, like any year, will be earnings growth and valuation expansion," Edward Jones senior investment strategist Mona Mahajan said, adding that this year may see a broadening of market participation.
Investors got some encouraging news on inflation Friday with wholesale prices unexpectedly declining by 0.1% in December. The data follows the more widely followed consumer prices data Thursday, which came in modestly hotter than economists had forecasted, with prices up 0.3% on the month and 3.4% from a year ago.
"PPI affirms that December's pickup in the CPI was likely a one-off," said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank. "The path continues to clear for the Fed to begin cutting interest rates in 2024 and to slow the pace at which they shrink their balance sheet."
On the week, the major averages notched gains. The Dow added 0.34%, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.84%. The Nasdaq is the outperformer, rising 3.09% through Friday's close.