Tech Leads US Losses as Long-Term Yields Rise

Technology funds led early US declines on Friday, November 13, as longer-dated Treasury yields moved higher. Around the first half-hour after the opening bell, the Nasdaq-100-tracking QQQ ETF was down 1.03% at $681.11, while the S&P 500-tracking SPY ETF fell 0.40% to $754.12, according to the early-session market snapshot.

The weakness was uneven. The financial-sector ETF XLF gained 0.52%, while agribusiness fund MOO edged up 0.31%. The delayed Dow Jones quote showed a 0.06% rise to 52,333.22, the same screen showed.

Pressure on leveraged tech funds

SOXL dropped 12.19% to $57.54 in the snapshot. It is a fund targeting three times the daily semiconductor-index return, so its percentage move is magnified relative to the underlying sector. ARKK fell 1.78% and QTUM lost 1.97%.

An exception was GGLL, up 2.33% at $73.78 in the companion quote screen. The Alphabet-linked fund targets twice the daily return of GOOGL shares; the 2.33% gain is the fund’s move, not Alphabet’s stock return.

Longer Treasury yields rise; two-year slips

The Treasury readings showed the 10-year yield at 5.158%, up 2.5 basis points, and the 30-year yield at 5.485%, up 2.7 basis points. The two-year yield moved the other way, falling 2.3 basis points to 4.861%.

The session followed the release of October’s US producer-price report. Prices rose 0.3% from September, below the event calendar’s 0.4% estimate. September’s increase was revised to 1.4%, while annual producer-price inflation accelerated to 6.5% from 6.3%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.