The S&P 500 index is perilously close to falling under its closely watched 200-day moving average

The S&P 500 index flirted with a close below an important, long-term trend line as selling intensified late-Friday on the back of trade-war fears. The S&P 500 index ended down 55.43 points, or 2.1%, at 2,588.26, barely above its 200-day MA at 2,585.38, according to FactSet data. Technical analysts pay attention to moving averages to help gauge bullish and bearish momentum in an asset. The gauge also closed below 2,600, considered a psychological round-number level that also could herald a bearish trend for the S&P 500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , meanwhile, finished the session down 424 points, or 1.8%, at 23,533, while the Nasdaq Composite Index breached its 100-day moving average at 7,082.60 and closed off 2.4% at 6,992.67. The S&P 500 last fell below its 200-day MA on Feb. 9, a day after the Dow and S&P 500 fell into correction territory, defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent high.

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After IPO, Dropbox stock gains more than 35%

Dropbox Inc. ended its first day of trading Friday more than 35% higher than its initial public offering price, even as the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled. Dropbox stock gained 35.6% from its $21 IPO price to close at $28.48, giving the cloud-storage company a market valuation of $9.66 billion, according to FactSet. That is just shy of the $10 billion valuation the company received in a 2014 funding round. The company raised more than $750 million by selling at least 12 million shares in the IPO. Box Inc. –considered by some to be a rival, though Box Chief Executive Aaron Levie does not agree — fell 8.2% on the day.

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Tintri CFO exits, following CEO departure

Tintri Inc. said late Friday that Chief Financial Officer Ian Halifax will leave the company April 30. Tintri stock is down a fraction in late trading, after closing down nearly 4% to $2.76 in the regular session. Halifax’s departure comes weeks after the peripheral maker’s Chief Executive Ken Klein announced his departure amid a 20% staff cut. The company has struggled since its June IPO, during which it drastically cut its target price, eventually going public for $7 a share. Tintri stock is down 46% this year, as the S&P 500 index has fallen 1.1%.

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The S&P 500 index is threatening to tumble under its closely watched 200-day moving average

The S&P 500 index was flirting with a close below an important, long-term trend line as selling intensified late-Friday on the back of trade-war fears. The S&P 500 index was down 48 points, or 1.9%, at 2,594, threatening to slip beneath its 200-day MA at 2,585.26, according to FactSet data. Slipping below 2,600 also is a psychological round-number level that also could herald a bearish trend for the S&P 500. Technical analysts pay attention to moving averages to help gauge bullish and bearish momentum in an asset. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , meanwhile, was down 350 points, or 1.5%, at 23,606, while the Nasdaq Composite Index breached its 100-day moving average earlier in the session and was recently off 2.1% at 7,018. The S&P 500 last fell below its 200-day MA on Feb. 9, a day after the Dow and S&P 500 fell into correction territory, defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent high.

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Stock-market losses gather steam in late-afternoon trade as bank, tech stocks tumble

U.S. stock benchmarks saw losses gather in late-afternoon trade on Friday, with the Dow off triple-digits and the Nasdaq breaching a key technical level intraday. Persistent fears about the impact of trade wars on the domestic economy has been the main culprit for the market tumble, say market participants. The Dow recently was off 228 points, or 0.9%, at 23,738, the S&P 500 index gave up 1.3% to 2,610, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.4% at 7,070, breaking firmly beneath its 100-day moving average at around 7,082.60, according to FactSet data. Market technicians watch moving averages to help gauge bullish and bearish trends in an asset. Bank stocks and technology shares saw the steepest declines.

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Goldman, 3M’s stock exact 80-point toll as Dow tumbles 300 points in afternoon trade

The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned sharply lower on Friday, adding to its rout on Thursday, as shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , and 3M Co. picked up momentum. Those Dow components were contributing nearly 90 points to the price-weighted gauge’s tumble. The average was most recently off 300 points, or 1.3%, at 23,662, with selling intensifying with less than an hour remaining in regular trade. The S&P 500 index was down 1.6% at 2,602, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 1.8% at 7,043, to fall below firmly below its 100-day moving average around 7,082, a bearish sign for the technology-laden equity gauge. Wall Street investors have been fretting over the potential for a trade war between China and the U.S.

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Nasdaq breaches a key trend line for the first time in 6 weeks in a bearish sign

The Nasdaq Composite Index fell firmly below its 100=day moving average, as the stock market took a firmer turn lower in Friday afternoon trade. The technology-laden benchmark was recently down 1.5% at 7,060, which is well below its 100-day moving average at 7,083.35, according to FactSet data. A break below that level, which it hasn’t breached since Feb. 9, is viewed as a bearish sign. Market technicians use moving averages to help assess long-term and short-term momentum in an asset. The Nasdaq fell more than 2% yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 700 points in a broad rout of equities amid heightened concerns about the fallout of recently announced tariffs on China imports. The index is still well above its 200-day MA at 6,726,53. Wall Street has viewed tariffs as a risk to U.S. economic expansion, which has been growing since the second quarter of 2009. The Nasdaq has been an outperformer among its equity benchmarks so far this year, with the index up 2.1%, compared with a 4.1% year-to-date loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a decline of 2.8% for the S&P 500 index .

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Pivotal Software files for IPO

EMC/VMware Inc. spin-off Pivotal Software Inc. plans to go public, after filing IPO paperwork on Friday. The cloud-computing company said that revenue for its latest fiscal year, which ended in early February, grew to $509 million from $416 million in the prior fiscal year. That growth came from the company’s subscription business, as its software segment saw revenue contract. The company posted a $164 million net loss, narrower than the $233 million it recorded in the prior year. Dell is Pivotal Software’s largest shareholder. The company didn’t say where its shares would list or under what ticker they would trade.

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Square price target raised 21% at Deutsche Bank; analyst cites Cash and international opportunities

Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane raised his price target on Square Inc. shares to $57 from $47 on Friday, citing management’s plans to invest for growth on both the consumer and merchant sides of the business. On the consumer side, Keane thinks that Square is doing a good job of monetizing its peer-to-peer Square Cash app, generating revenue from more than a third of transactions. He sees Square having success in layering on “value-added solutions” like the Square Cash debit card and the ability for instant deposits. “Payroll payouts directly from the seller to an employee through Square Cash is another possible roll-out (potentially displacing check-based payouts),” Keane wrote. His recent conversations with management also left him upbeat about Square’s efforts to expand internationally. Square shares are down 5% in Friday trading after the stock was downgraded at Craig Hallum Capital Group, and they’re on pace for their worst percentage decline since February. Shares are up 217% over the past 12 months, compared with a 13% gain for the S&P 500 .

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Apple shares rise after analyst cites ‘favorable’ iPhone mix shift for March quarter

Shares of Apple Inc. are up 0.5% in Friday trading, reversing earlier declines, after BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote of “early indications of favorable iPhone product mix” for the March quarter. Piecyk cites data from Wave7, a wireless research firm, that say Apple picked up market share in the March period, with most of its gains coming from Samsung Electronics Co. . The data also show that more customers are opting for the iPhone X and 8 Plus, Apple’s two most expensive models, with the mix of older iPhones falling. Still, he argued that handset sales volumes in the United States are likely to remain sluggish in the first calendar quarter of the year as the operators’ competitive dynamics are still tame.” Apple shares are up 20% over the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 17%.

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