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Data dump — What you need to know in markets on Friday

Thursday was another weak day for the stock market.

Stocks logged a mixed close that saw the Dow gain triple digits, while the S&P 500 was flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished in the red.

Early in the session, however, stocks popped higher. But as has been the pattern all week, the bulls couldn’t get anything going, and stocks drifted lower throughout the day.

Political headlines have been dominating this week, with Thursday bringing news from The New York Times that special counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed records from the Trump Organization, bringing his probe into Russian meddling in the election a step closer to the president.

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On Friday, the economic schedule is busy, with the highlight coming from the week’s final check on U.S. consumers with the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on consumer sentiment for March. This report follows Wednesday’s reading on retail sales in February, which showed sales declined for a third-straight month while consumer confidence remains near a post-crisis high.

Workers weld drawers on the assembly line at Metal Box International toolbox factory in Franklin Park, Illinois, U.S., February 21, 2018. Picture taken February 21, 2018. REUTERS/Timothy Aeppel
Workers weld drawers on the assembly line at Metal Box International toolbox factory in Franklin Park, Illinois, U.S., February 21, 2018. Picture taken February 21, 2018. REUTERS/Timothy Aeppel

Elsewhere on the calendar, we’ll get February data on housing starts, building permits, industrial production, and capacity utilization. The January reading on job openings is also set for release in the morning.

And on the earnings side, notable results expected in the morning include Tiffany (TIF), Hibbett Sports (HIBB), Perry Ellis (PERY), and Buckle Inc (BKE).

March to nowhere

After an eventful February, stocks have seen choppy, but an ultimately more frustrating trading pattern in March.

Last Friday, for example, the major averages gained almost 2% after the February jobs report. This week, stocks opened strong out of the gate and then weakened into the close each day.

And with economic news sparse this week amid a blackout on speakers from the Federal Reserve ahead of the central bank’s March 21 meeting and first-quarter earnings season winding down, political noise has seemingly factored more into the market’s daily direction.

This listless trading also somewhat masks what’s been a pretty weak market underneath the surface.

In a note to clients on Thursday, Bespoke Investment Group notes that while the market is up month-to-date, most sectors of the S&P 500 have been weak relative to recent trends. Just 43% of stocks in the index are above their 50-day moving average, a measure that captures the stock’s recent trend.

Less than half the members of the S&P 500 are trading above their recent trend. (Source: Bespoke Investment Group)
Less than half the members of the S&P 500 are trading above their recent trend. (Source: Bespoke Investment Group)

And using this measure, we see that tech stocks are essentially doing all the heavy lifting for the market right now, as 81% of that index is above its 50-day. Meanwhile, just 3% of energy stocks, 20% of materials names and 27% of consumer staples are trading above this mark.

The bulls certainly would like to see more sectors have positive internals.

So while big tech names like Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL) have all had nice bounces off the February 8 market low, the broader set-up for stocks — amid a lack of market catalysts — has gotten notably uglier.

Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

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