Boeing had a big week, rising 12%.
A Friday afternoon surge lifted markets after a rocky start to the day and it could lift the S&P 500 to its first winning week in a month.
As of 3:00 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 was at around 5,650, which means it would barely eke out a win, up 0.2% for the week, from 5,539 at the close last Friday. If the gains hold, it would end the S&P 500’s four-week losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trending up too, as it was at around 41,880 as of Friday afternoon, up about 1% for the week from 41,488 at last Friday’s close. It would end a two-week losing skid for the Dow.
The Nasdaq Composite was the one major index that looked destined for another down week. The Nasdaq was at 17,690 as of 3:00 p.m., which would be down about 0.4% for the week from 17,754. This would be the fifth consecutive down week for the Nasdaq.
The Russell 2000 was trending higher as well, up about 0.8% for the week to 2,060. If the gains hold, it would end the small-cap indexes five-week losing streak.
Still, all of the indexes remain in negative territory year-to-date, led by the Nasdaq, down 8.6% YTD. Over the past month, since February 19, the Nasdaq is in correction territory, off more than 11%. The S&P 500 is 4% lower YTD, while the Dow is down 1.5% and the Russell 2000 is off 7.5% YTD.
Boeing bounces
The big gainer this week was jet manufacturer Boeing, which soared more than 12% for the week. The catalyst was an order from Japan Airlines of 17 new 737-B aircraft. The aircraft are worth roughly $90 million each.
As ValueWalk’s Sam Alberti wrote, Boeing (NYSE:BA) also got a lift when research firm Aero Analysis Parterns’ predicted that the firm’s March deliveries would be higher than last month.
It was a much-needed lift for Boeing stock, which is now up about 3% YTD, trading at around $183 per share.
The other top stock of the week was Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), which soared more than 9% for the week to nearly $35 per share.
The catalyst for Southwest was an initiative announced late last week to drive revenue growth. The primary change is to Southwest’s popular “Bags Fly Free” program. Now, only rewards members and select customers will be allowed to check bags for free. Regular customers will be charged for checked bags. Southwest had been the last major U.S. airline to offer free bag checks for all.
While this may not sit well with customers, investors were pleased as it should be a revenue driver for Southwest. Southwest stock is up about 3% YTD.
Among other big names, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rallied on Friday, up 4%, but it was still headed for another negative week. As of 2:00 p.m. ET. Tesla was down about 1.3%. Tesla is down 39% YTD to $247 per share.
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) was also headed for a weekly loss, down 3.5% for the week. NVIDIA stock is down 12.5% YTD to $117 per share.
