The major stock indexes declined in early trading on Friday after the release of a slew of economic reports that will factor into the Federal Reserve’s interest rate call next month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% shortly after markets opened, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2%. Stocks declined yesterday as oil prices climbed to a six-month high amid a major U.S. military build-up in the Middle East aimed at forcing a nuclear deal with Iran.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, a faster rate of inflation than economists were expecting. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was in line with expectations, rising to 3% from 2.8% in November. (PCE reports are being released a month later than usual because of last year’s government shutdown.)
Friday also brought gross domestic product data, which suggested the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.4%, a full percentage point slower than economists expected and down sharply from 4.4% in the third quarter. (Follow Investopedia‘s live coverage of that report here.)
Also on the docket Friday are data on manufacturing and services business activity, new home sales, and consumer sentiment.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.08%, unchanged from Thursday’s close.
Shares of Applovin (APP) rose 2% in early trading amid reports the digital ad tech company is developing its own social media platform. Shares of Grail (GRAL) fell almost 50% after the company reported disappointing trial results of one of its cancer treatments. Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) slumped 10% after the cloud computing company’s first-quarter guidance fell short of estimates.
Big tech stocks were mixed in early trading. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG) were up nearly 2% in recent trading. Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) traded slightly higher. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) slipped less than 1%.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were down slightly at $66.15 a barrel in recent trading. Gold futures rose more than 1% to $5,060 an ounce, while silver gained 4% to trade at $80.70 an ounce.
Bitcoin was recently trading around $67,000, down from highs above $68,000 earlier this morning. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.80.
