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17/05/24
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Wall Street Flat, But on Track to End the Week with Gains
On Friday, stocks on Wall Street were muted but are on track to end the week dominated by mild inflation data in positive territory.
The NASDAQ Composite was 13 points, or 0.1%, higher, the S&P 500 traded largely flat, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or 0.1%.
The three main indices were set to record gains for the week, despite Thursday’s slight losses, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is close to the psychologically important level of 40,000, after on Thursday trading higher than this level for the first time in history.
The tone this week has been helped by lower-than-expected consumer inflation readings, which pushed the averages to record peaks on Wednesday and Thursday.
Several Fed officials have however since said that the central bank required more confidence before it would trim interest rates and that the timing of the move is not certain. On Friday, this limited volatility.
Raphael Bostic, the Atlanta Fed President, warned that a single positive data point didn’t make a trend and that the central bank had not locked in expectations for rate cuts.
John Williams, the New York Fed President said that although the consumer inflation data was positive, it wasn’t enough to warrant a cut in interest rates.
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