Stocks End Friday Mixed on Wall Street 10/22 16:18

   Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading Friday with an uneven finish for 
the major stock indexes, as losses for several large technology companies 
weighed on the market.

   (AP) -- Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading Friday with an uneven 
finish for the major stock indexes, as losses for several large technology 
companies weighed on the market.

   The S&P 500 was little changed a day after it set an all-time high, but the 
0.1% slip ended its seven-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
notched a 0.2% gain, good enough to eclipse the blue-chip index's previous 
record high set on Aug. 16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.8%.

   Some 65% of stocks in the S&P 500 closed higher, led mainly by financial and 
health care companies, but losses in communication and technology companies, 
which have an outsized weight on the benchmark index, held the S&P 500 down.

   Despite the downbeat finish to the week, the three major indexes posted 
their third weekly gain in a row. Investors have been reviewing corporate 
earnings over the last two weeks and the mostly solid results have helped 
stocks generally grind higher.

   Remarks Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared to put 
traders in a selling mood. Powell said that the supply chain issues that have 
caused disruptions across the U.S. economy since this summer have gotten worse 
and will likely keep inflation elevated well into next year.

   "This idea that inflation is transitory seems to be going out the window as 
you see inflation expectations start to rise," said Willie Delwiche, investment 
strategist at All Star Charts.

   The S&P 500 slipped 4.88 points to 4,544.90. The Dow gained 73.94 points to 
35,677.02. The Nasdaq slid 125.50 points, or 0.8%, to 15,090.20.

   Small company stocks also lost ground. The Russell 2000 index fell 4.92 
points, or 0.2%, to 2,291.27.

   Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.64% 
from 1.67%.

   With corporate earnings reporting season in full swing, investors have been 
looking for clues as to how companies are navigating supply chain problems and 
rising costs for materials, transportation and other goods and services. Many 
companies have warned that the supply chain issues and overall higher costs 
will hurt operations.

   Wall Street is monitoring what the Fed will do to tackle inflation. The 
central bank is widely expected to announce next month plans to begin reducing 
monthly bond purchases that the Fed began in the early days of the pandemic in 
a bid to lower longer-term interest rates and encourage borrowing and spending.

   Powell said Friday that the Fed is not yet prepared to lift its benchmark 
interest rate from its current level near zero, though he suggested that the 
economy may be ready for a rate hike next year.

   "If the Fed is going have to be more aggressive with raising rates or more 
aggressive with moving toward tapering to raising rates, then what's the 
impact, not on individual companies, but on whole sectors and the economy 
overall?" asked Delwiche.

   Technology and communication companies, which tend to be among the most 
expensive stocks and have benefited from low interest rates, weighed most on 
the market Friday. Chipmaker Intel slumped 11.7% for the biggest decline in the 
index after reporting disappointing revenue.

   Snapchat's parent company, Snap, plunged 26.6% after reporting weak revenue 
and disclosing that its ad sales are being hurt by a privacy crackdown that 
rolled out on Apple's iPhones earlier this year. The news weighed down several 
other social media companies. Facebook fell 5.1% and Twitter fell 4.8%. 
Google's parent, Alphabet, fell 3%.

   Banks and other financial companies made solid gains. American Express 
jumped 5.4% after reporting solid third-quarter financial results. The company 
noted an increase in consumer spending and travel. Bank of America rose 1.6%.

   Solid earnings helped several other companies gain ground. Hot Wheels and 
Barbie maker Mattel rose 0.6% after reporting solid financial results.

   The company planning to make President Donald Trump's new media venture a 
publicly traded company soared for a second straight day. Digital World 
Acquisition nearly tripled in the first minute of trading, then wound up with 
ending the day at $94.20, up 107%. It traded as high as $175.

   The stock more than quadrupled the day before, surging to $45.50 from $9.96, 
after the company said it would merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, 
which aims to challenge Facebook, Twitter and even Disney's streaming video 
service. Experts are split on the company's prospects, but some investors are 
betting on it to be popular.

   That's despite the deal's announcement being unusual in how few details it 
offered for investors.

   European markets ended mostly higher. Markets in Asia closed mixed. State 
media in China said China Evergrande Group made an overdue bond payment on 
Friday. The property developer's struggle to reduce its 2 trillion yuan ($310 
billion) of debt to comply with tighter official curbs on borrowing has 
prompted fears a default might trigger a financial crisis.