S&P 500 closes higher in defensive sessionDow -62.76 at 26671.95, Nasdaq +29.36 at 10503.28, S&P +9.16 at 3224.73 [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 eked out a 0.3% gain on Friday in a lackluster session led by the defensive-oriented sectors. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) and Russell 2000 (+0.4%) rose comparably to the benchmark index, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2% amid relative weakness in financial and energy companies. Negative factors in today's trade included Netflix ($NFLX 492.99, -34.40, -6.5%) issuing cautious subscriber guidance, the preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for July dropping to 73.2 (Briefing.com consensus 77.6) from 78.1 in June, and the U.S. tallying another daily record in new coronavirus cases. The lower consumer sentiment reading was closely linked with the resurgence in coronavirus cases, but investors remained willing to stay in the market. Many opted for a defensive stance that lifted the S&P 500 utilities (+2.3%), real estate (+1.4%), and health care (+1.4%) sectors into the leadership spots at the expense of the cyclical energy (-1.5%) and financials (-0.8%) sectors. Several mega-cap technology stocks continued to underperform, taking note of the disappointing price action in Netflix as a possible precursor if they fail to live up to elevated expectations. Shares of Amazon ($AMZN 2961.97, -37.93, -1.3%) fell 7.4% this week, including today's 1.3% decline. In other earnings news, BlackRock ($BLK 587.72, +20.76, +3.7%) and J.B. Hunt Transport ($JBHT 136.82, +4.27, +3.2%) were some notable standouts, with the latter helping drive the outperformance of the Dow Jones Transportation Average (+1.1%). U.S. Treasuries ended the session little changed. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.14%, and the 10-yr yield increased two basis points to 0.63%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 95.95. WTI crude futures declined 0.5%, or $0.20, to $40.56/BBL. Reviewing Friday's economic data: Total housing starts increased 17.3% m/m in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.186 million units (Briefing.com consensus 1.180 million). Building permits rose 2.1% to 1.241 million (Briefing.com consensus 1.290 million).The key takeaway from the report is that single-unit permits (+11.8%) and starts (+17.2%) were both strong, which is good to see for a housing market that is short on supply.The preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for July dropped to 73.2 (Briefing.com consensus 77.6) from the final reading of 78.1 for June. The July reading, which is just 1.4 points above the April low, slumped in conjunction with the renewed surge in coronavirus cases and moves by some states to pause or roll back reopening efforts.The key takeaway from the report is the acknowledgment that sentiment is destined to sink further, creating a risk for a longer recession, if Congress fails to come through with another aggressive fiscal policy response that focuses on financial relief for households and state and local governments. Looking ahead, there are no economic reports scheduled until next Wednesday, which will include Existing Home Sales for June. Nasdaq Composite +17.1% YTDS&P 500 -0.2% YTDDow Jones Industrial Average -6.5% YTDRussell 2000 -11.7% YTD Market Snapshot Dow26671.95-62.76(-0.23%)Nasdaq10503.28+29.36(0.28%)SP 5003224.73+9.16(0.28%)10-yr Note 0/320.623NYSEAdv 1609 Dec 1318 Vol 869.0 mlnNasdaqAdv 1935 Dec 1311 Vol 4.5 bln Industry Watch Strong: Utilities, Health Care, Real Estate, Materials, Information TechnologyWeak: Financials, Energy, Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary Moving the Market -- S&P 500 closes slightly higher amid defensive-oriented leadership-- Netflix (NFLX) shares fall 6.5% on cautious subscriber guidance-- Preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for July dropped to 73.2 (Briefing.com consensus 77.6) from 78.1 in June-- Relative weakness in financial and energy stocksStocks end mixed after Netflix beats subscriber guidance but issues tepid outlook The major averages finished mixed, with the S&P and Nasdaq gaining and the Dow lagging, following a meandering Friday session that felt typical of the summer. While share of Netflix ($NFLX) slid after the company disappointed with its subscriber guidance, the fact that the FANG member's decline didn't prompt a bigger marketwide selloff could be considered a win for the bulls. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts climbed another 17.3% to a 1.19M unit pace in June. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey dropped 4.9 points to 73.2 in the preliminary July report, missing expectations. In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is down 5 rigs from last week to 253. The latest data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 13.84M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 3.58M in the U.S., and 590,845 deaths due to the disease. At the state level for some U.S. hot spots, Florida reported 327,241 COVID-19 cases, up more than 11,000 cases from yesterday, while Arizona reports 138,523 COVID-19 cases, up 3,910 from the prior day. Meanwhile, 9,986 new virus cases were reported in California, with Governor Gavin Newsom ordering remote classes for most public schools in the state. In addition, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that the state's rate of transmission of COVID-19 hit its highest level in weeks. TOP NEWS: Shares of Netflix (NFLX) fell 6.5% after the content streaming giant reported second quarter results, with earnings per share missing the consensus estimate and revenue coming out higher than expectations. The company also reported a "Q2-record" 10.09M global streaming paid net additions, compared to 2.7M additions last year. Looking ahead, Netflix provided guidance for Q3, including paid net additions of 2.5M, saying again that it expects paid net adds to be down year-over-year in the second half. In addition, the company named Ted Sarandos, its chief content officer, as co-CEO alongside CEO Reed Hastings. Twitter ($TWTR) shares were in focus after the company said last night that roughly 130 people were targeted in a cyberattack that took control of high-profile accounts to promote a bitcoin scam. "Based on what we know right now, we believe approximately 130 accounts were targeted by the attackers in some way as part of the incident," the social media firm tweeted. "For a small subset of these accounts, the attackers were able to gain control of the accounts and then send Tweets from those accounts." Hackers compromised accounts belonging to Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others. Reuters later reported that the hack was more likely a low-level cybercrime rather than nation state-level subterfuge. Meanwhile, Inovio ($INO) shares jumped 9.8% after the company said in a tweet that the company, in partnership with Seoul National University Hospital, dosed the first patient in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Inovio's COVID-19 DNA vaccine candidate in South Korea. Additionally, Lowe's ($LOW) announced that it is adopting a nationwide standard for all customers to wear masks or face coverings when shopping in U.S. stores effective July 20, following the example of Walmart ($WMT), Target ($TGT), Kohl's ($KSS), and other major retailers. GameStop ($GME) also said it is requiring customers to wear face coverings at all its U.S. stores starting July 27. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Rosetta Stone ($RST), which rose 25.1% after Bloomberg reported that the company is weighing a sale for all or part of its business. Also higher was Ericsson ($ERIC), which gained 13.2% after reporting quarterly results. Among the notable losers was NIO Inc. ($NIO), which slid 14.3% after Goldman Sachs analyst Fei Fang downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral. Also lower was Nikola ($NKLA), which fell 7%. In a tweet, chairman Trevor Milton reiterated that the company will break ground on its factory in Coolidge, Arizona on July 23, but due to the virus will have to limit guests to invite only.Source: (Briefing.com)(theFly.com) Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. Readers should do their own research before making decisions to buy or sell securities. Trading and investing include risks, including loss of principal. If you liked this article, please click the LIKE (thumbs up) button. Feel free to leave any comments, question, or opinions. (Sign-up if you haven't already done so). Follow us/bookmark us and check back occasionally for additional articles or comments on our page... Wild Tiger Trading - start/main page. . Want to trade some of these stocks?Are you interested in trading stocks to supplement your income or make a living? 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