Stock exchange traded funds closed lower for the third straight week as Bank of America and Citigroup weighed in the financial sector.
This week, investors will be looking for economic reports on new home sales, durable goods orders and pending home sales.
ETFs tracking the financial sector shed more than 1% on Friday on lingering weakness in shares of top holdings Citigroup and Bank of America . Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund was on track for a weekly advance heading into the session but Friday’s drop erased the gains. Citi and B. of A. were both down about 1%, while the financial ETF slipped 1.2%. Investors are worried about banks’ exposure to mortgage-backed securities following reports this week that Goldman Sachs was bracing for subpoenas from U.S. prosecutors.
Apple shares and a key Nasdaq ETF have been stuck in consolidation patterns lately, but that could just be a pause for breath before the next move higher, some technical analysts say. “Innovator Apple is probably one of the most talked about members of the Nasdaq-100,” said Tarquin Coe, technical analyst at Investors Intelligence. “Its leadership has tailed off recently as the chart takes a necessary breather, evident from the sideways consolidation since the start of the year.” Apple ended approx. 1.5% lower Friday but PowerShares QQQ was on track for a gain for the week.
Retail ETFs were down sharply Friday while shares of Aeropostale and Gap fell nearly 20% after the companies offered weak profit outlooks as they continue to get squeezed by higher input costs. Retail HOLDRS and SPDR S&P Retail ETF were down nearly 2%. Gap fell 18% following its quarterly results. The retailer cut its full-year profit forecast.
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