Wall Street’s major stock indexes were looking for direction Friday, even as they were on track for strong weekly gains as investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-cutting stance.
All three major U.S. indexes hit new closing records on Thursday, as stocks rose following a positive forecast from Micron Technology and the Fed’s signal that it is still on track for three rate cuts this year.
According to CME’s FedWatch tool, traders now see a 71% chance of the first cut occurring in June, up from 56% at the start of the week.
“With (mid-year) rate cuts becoming a little more certain and a further rebound in bond yields looking unlikely, policymakers have given the market a boost,” said Raffi Boyadjian, investment analyst at XM .
Investors will also be closely monitoring comments from a number of central bank officials throughout the day for further clues about the path of monetary policy.
Six of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 traded lower, with the consumer discretionary sector falling 1.0%.
The Dow Jones fell 0.22% to 39,695.79 points. The S&P 500 lost 0.03% to 5,240.13 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.02% to 16,397.97 points.
Source: Terra
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