(Reuters) - The Nasdaq Composite opened lower on Friday as weak forecasts from Applied Materials and Nvidia weighed on chip stocks, while gains in energy stocks due to rising crude prices helped the S&P and the Dow Industrials cut their losses.
Specialist trader Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 17, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Applied Materials (AMAT.O) sank 9 percent, the most on the S&P, after the world’s largest supplier of chip equipment forecast current-quarter results below estimates, adding to fears that a two-year chip boom may be losing steam.
Nvidia (NVDA.O) dropped 4 percent after the chipmaker said cryptocurrency-fueled demand had dried up and forecast current-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 1.49 percent, falling for the fourth straight session. Intel (INTC.O) slipped 0.3 percent.
The broader technology sector .SPLRCT fell 0.38 percent, the most among the 11 major S&P sectors. The best performing was the energy sector .SPNY, which rose 0.39 percent as crude prices jumped 1 percent.
Prospects of more U.S. sanctions on Turkey escalated after a report that a Turkish court rejected an appeal for the release of detained American pastor Andrew Brunson. The lira, already lower in the session, weakened further.
“The situation in Turkey is troubling and until the rhetoric in the back-and-forth calms down it’ll be on the forefront of investors minds,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
“People will remove equity exposure amid the uncertainty especially given Turkey’s public holidays next
