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U.S. stocks fell on Friday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hit record highs for four consecutive days.
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Outgoing Fed Governor Loretta Mester told CNBC that the recent disinflation data was welcome.
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Investors expect the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates at its September FOMC meeting.
U.S. stocks took a breather from this week’s gains, slipping slightly on Friday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hit record highs for a fourth straight day.
This week’s surge in stock prices was fueled by a notable subsidence in inflation, as evidenced by the May Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports.
Friday’s drop came after European shares had fallen sharply as recent election results in France and Germany continue to send ripples through the markets.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index fell about 2%, while Germany’s DAX index fell just over 1.2%.
Investors will be keeping an eye on preliminary consumer confidence data from the University of Michigan at 10 a.m. on Friday, with economists expecting it to come in at 71.5 compared with the previous reading of 69.1.
Finally, comments from Federal Reserve Governors Loretta Mester and Austan Goolsbee will be closely watched later in the afternoon.
Mester told CNBC on Friday morning that the new decline in inflation is welcome news and that it’s important that the Fed doesn’t wait too long to cut interest rates.
The market currently expects the Fed to begin cutting interest rates at its September FOMC meeting.
Below are U.S. stock indexes as of the start of trading at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
What else is happening today:
Commodities, Bonds and Cryptocurrencies:
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West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.46% to $78.98 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude rose 0.62% to $83.26 a barrel.
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Gold rose 1.17% to $2,345.20 per ounce.
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The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 2 basis points to 4.22%.
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Bitcoin rose 0.74% to $67,236.
Read the original article on Business Insider
