US stocks ticked down amid generally positive performance

US equities fell on Friday as Wall Street wrapped up a busy week that saw investors receive a Federal Reserve pause on rate hikes as well as positive inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 108.94 points, or 0.32%, to settle at 34,299.12 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.37 percent to close at 4,409.59. The Nasdaq Composite decreased 0.68% to close at 13,689.57.

The S&P 500 has improved 2.6% during the past week, marking its strongest week since March. The S&P 500 is experiencing its first five-week winning streak since November 2021. From its low during the bear market, the benchmark is already up more than 26%. The Nasdaq Composite has experienced its best week since March, rising around 3.3% for the week.

When the Federal Reserve left interest rates constant on Wednesday after 10 straight increases, it satisfied investors’ expectations this week. Although the Fed indicated that there might be two more rate rises this year, many Wall Street traders and analysts think the Fed may have reached its final step. The consumer price index for May recorded its lowest reading in two years earlier in the week.

The newest tech stock to rise, Adobe gained 0.9% after reporting strong results and providing optimistic forecasts. Adding to its 192% increase this year, AI darling Nvidia gained 10% this week. Microsoft increased this week by 4.7% and reached a record on Thursday. When the Fed started its rate-hiking campaign, tech shares took the biggest first impact.

The AI wave isn’t going away any time soon, according to Wall Street, and investors will continue to favour US companies as global central banks adopt divergent monetary policies. This stock market rise appears to be slightly overbought, but there is still too much money sitting on the sidelines, so if the AI trade holds up, the S&P 500’s winning streak can continue.

More encouraging news on inflation and the economy were released on Friday. In June, consumer inflation expectations decreased, with one-year price pressure projections falling to 3.3% from 4.2% in May. The headline figure from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers was 63.9, which was higher than the Dow Jones predictions of 60.2.

Friday’s session saw choppy moves across the stock market as stock options, index futures and index future option contracts. Friday also marks the final trading day before a long weekend, with the market closed Monday in observation of Juneteenth.