US stocks were volatile on Friday and benchmark Treasury yields edged lower as market participants digested mixed corporate earnings and a flurry of data that confirmed that even as inflation cooled, it remained above the Federal Reserve’s target. High enough.
The S&P 500 and Dow were marginally higher, but each index was poised for modest weekly gains as Amazon.com dragged the Nasdaq into negative territory.
Economic data released before the bell confirmed that inflation is falling but remains more than double the Federal Reserve’s average annual target of 2%, and another 25 basis-point interest rate hike if the central bank meets did little to move the needle regarding market expectations. next week.
Meanwhile, the economic outlook remains uncertain, with a weaker-than-expected first-quarter GDP reading and Amazon.com Inc. warning of a possible recession echoing those uncertainties and weighing on the stock.
“We’re getting conflicting information,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplisize Asset Management in New York. “The labor market is strong and we’ve seen good earnings growth, all against a backdrop of growing fears of a recession.”
“It is clear that inflation is coming down but what we are struggling with is trying to assimilate this information and trying to figure out what the Fed is going to do with this information.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.64 points, or 0.21%, to 33,896.8, the S&P 500 rose 4.27 points, or 0.10%, to 4,139.62 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 25.39 points, or 0.21%, to 12,116.85.
European shares rose on early selling due to weakness in European banks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.32% and MSCI’s broadest sweep of shares around the world added 0.17%.
Emerging market shares rose 0.41%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.48% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.40%.
Treasury yields fell across the board on signs of cooling inflation.
Benchmark 10-year notes rose 21/32 in price to yield 3.4484% from 3.528% on Thursday.
The 30-year bond rose 43/32 in the previous price on Thursday to yield 3.6803% from 3.756% on Thursday.
The greenback was nominally higher against a basket of world currencies on the heels of inflation data, and benefited from a fall in the yen as the Bank of Japan kept the policy rate low.
The dollar index added 0.07% to the euro, which rose 0.07% to $1.1035.
The Japanese yen weakened 1.59% versus the greenback at 136.14 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2564, up 0.62% on the day.
Oil prices rose but remained on track for a monthly decline amid signs of an economic slowdown.
US crude rose 1.38% to $75.79 a barrel and Brent was up 1.51% at $79.40 on the previous day.
Gold prices were essentially flat after economic data strengthened the chances of another rate hike from the Fed.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,993.63 an ounce.
The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification.
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