Wall Street closed its 10th winning week in the past 11 with a mixed finish Friday following an encouraging report on inflation. The AP reports:
- The Dow fell 118.04 points, or 0.3%, to 37,592.98, dragged down by a sharp loss for UnitedHealth Group following its results.
- The S&P 500 rose 3.59 points, or 0.1%, to 4,783.83 after earnings reporting season kicked off with mixed results from Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase, and others.
- The Nasdaq rose 2.57 points, or less than 0.1%, to 14,972.76.
Stocks have been roaring toward records for months, pulling the S&P 500 within 0.3% of its all-time high, on hopes that inflation is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year. Traders are largely betting on the Fed cutting its main interest rate six or more times through 2024. That would be a much more aggressive track than the Fed itself has hinted. It's even cautioned it could raise rates further if inflation refuses to buckle convincingly toward its target of 2%. The federal funds rate is already at its highest level since 2001. "The danger of Fed fine-tuning is that they could be fiddling while the economy is burning down," said Brian Jacobsen of Annex Wealth Management. "If they're data-dependent, that means they're looking in the rearview mirror."
The Labor Department reported Friday that wholesale inflation declined in December for the third straight month. JPMorgan Chase dipped 0.7% after reporting weaker results for the last three months of 2023 than expected. Delta sank 9% even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the final three months of 2023 than analysts had forecast; the carrier's forecasted range for upcoming full-year profit indicated it could fall below what analysts had been expecting. UnitedHealth Group fell 3.4% despite topping analysts' profit forecasts; medical costs for the health care giant soared, worrying investors. (More stock market stories.)
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