U.S. Stocks End On Mixed Note After Cautious Session

U.S. stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday with investors largely staying cautious amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation.

Worries about slowing Chinese economy, hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting, and higher bond yields had pushed the market down in the previous two sessions.

Among the major averages, the Dow and the S&P 500 moved mostly along the flat line for much of the day’s trading session, while the Nasdaq recovered gradually from a weak start.

The Dow ended the session with a gain of 25.83 points or 0.07 percent at 34,500.66. The S&P 500 ended little changed at 4,369.71, while the Nasdaq finished with a loss of 26.16 points or 0.2 percent at 13,290.78.

The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shed about 2.2 percent, 2.1 percent, and 2.6%, respectively.

Wallgreens Boots Alliance and 3M declined 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Alphabet ended 1.9 percent down, and Meta Platforms declined 0.65 percent, while Apple ended modestly higher.

Discount store Ross Stores shares rallied 5 percent after the company raised its annual sales and profit forecasts.

Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, 3M, Amgen, Travelers Companies, Microsoft, Nike and Caterpillar posted modest losses.

Walmart climbed nearly 1.5 percent, rebounding from recent losses. Boeing, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Cisco Systems and IBM gained 0.5 to 1 percent.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Friday amid lingering worries about the Chinese economy and higher interest rates.

The dollar and Treasury yields fell slightly from recent highs, helping limit regional losses to some extent.

European stocks closed lower on Friday as growth worries and concerns about monetary tightening continued to deter investors from indulging any significant buying, and look to lighten positions instead.

In addition to assessing the likely interest rate-path of central banks, investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from Europe and the U.S.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.61 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX both dropped 0.65 percent, and France’s CAC 40 ended down 0.38 percent.

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