Financial Markets                      11/07 09:35

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Friday and 
are on track for their first weekly loss in the last four.

   The S&P 500 fell 0.7% in the morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average fell 130 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq 
composite fell 1%.

   The market was weighed down by technology stocks, especially several big 
names with huge valuations that give them outsized influence over the direction 
of the market. Overall, there were more gainers than losers within the S&P 500, 
but the index was dragged down by a 2.6% drop for Nvidia and a 1.8% drop for 
Broadcom, among others big names losing ground.

   Wall Street remained focused on the latest quarterly reports and forecasts 
from U.S. companies.

   Payments company Block, which operates the Square and Cash App businesses, 
sank 9.8% after turning in results that fell short of forecasts. Exercise 
equipment maker Peloton jumped 6.1% after its results beat estimates.

   Expedia Group surged 16.6% after beating analysts' quarterly earnings 
forecasts.

   More than 90% of companies within the S&P 500 have reported earnings for 
their latest quarter. Most companies have reported growth beyond Wall Street 
expectations and the influential tech sector has the strongest growth, 
according to data from FactSet.

   Corporate profits and forecasts were already being scrutinized by Wall 
Street as investors try to gauge whether the market's overall high value is 
justified. The results have taken on more significance amid a lack of other 
data about the economy because of the U.S. government shutdown, which is now 
the longest on record.

   The shutdown is now responsible for yet another missing economic report 
typically relied on by Wall Street and economists. The monthly employment data 
for October was unavailable, as was the monthly data for September previously. 
The lack of data on employment is especially troubling because the job market 
was already weakening.

   Wall Street still has several private sources of economic data to turn to, 
outside of earnings. The latest came Friday from the University of Michigan, 
with its monthly consumer sentiment report. The latest report showed that 
consumer sentiment fell sharply from a month ago, while economists had expected 
a slight increase.

   The survey also showed that inflation expectations edged slightly higher. 
Government data on consumer prices and levels inflation is among the 
information Wall Street and others are lacking because of the government 
shutdown. Inflation has been stubbornly high and remains a key concern, 
especially amid a volatile U.S. trade war that could add fuel to rising 
inflation.

   Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year 
Treasury remained at 4.09% from late Thursday. The yield on the two-year 
Treasury fell to 3.55% from at 3.56% late Thursday.

   Markets in Europe fell and markets in Asia closed lower. China reported that 
its exports contracted 1.1% in October, as shipments to the United States 
dropped by 25% from a year earlier. But economists expect Chinese exports to 
recover after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed 
last week to de-escalate the trade war between the two largest economies.

   ___

   AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

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