Market Downturn Continues: Stocks Head for Another Losing Week

The major stock averages are heading towards weekly losses, with the Dow on track to end down over 2%. Cisco and Merck were the only stocks in the Dow to avoid the decline this week. Barclays downgraded Keysight Technologies after its weak earnings report, causing the stock to tumble over 12%. Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast Auto saw its shares decline 22.5% after a surge earlier in the week. B. Riley is bullish on a chip stock poised for AI-led growth, while TD Cowen believes Datadog can rally after a post-earnings slide. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is confirmed to speak at the Jackson Hole symposium next week. Farfetch's stock plunged 40% after reporting lower-than-expected revenue, while Deere's strong earnings beat expectations, causing the stock to rise. Bloomin' Brands saw a 7% jump in premarket trading after activist investor Starboard Value acquired a stake in the company. European stocks retreated, and China's Evergrande filed for bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court. Japan's core inflation rate fell in July, and Bitcoin slid as much as 9% after Elon Musk's SpaceX sold its bitcoin holdings. Capital Economics warns that China's economic outlook is grim, and Strategas Research notes that some air is coming out of cyclical stocks. Applied Materials and Ross Stores beat expectations in their earnings reports, while Keysight Technologies provided a bleak outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Transportation Average closed below key thresholds, signaling a potential downtrend. S&P 500 futures opened little changed.