Some tech stocks were a drag on the market. Nvidia fell 2.2 per cent, Meta Platforms dropped 1.7 per cent and Google parent Alphabet slid 1.1 per cent.
Among the market’s other decliners were Airbnb, which fell 4.7 per cent for the biggest loss in the S&P 500, and Charles Schwab, which closed 4 per cent lower.
Furniture and housewares company RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged 17 per cent after raising its forecast for revenue growth for the year.
All told, the S&P 500 lost 0.16 points to close at 6,051.09. The Dow dropped 86.06 points to 43,828.06. The Nasdaq rose 23.88 points to 19,926.72.
Wall Street’s rally stalled this week amid mixed economic reports and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of the year. The central bank will meet next week and is widely expected to cut interest rates for a third time since September.
Expectations of a series of rate cuts has driven the S&P 500 to 57 all-time highs so far this year.
The Fed has been lowering its benchmark interest rate following an aggressive rate hiking policy that was meant to tame inflation. It raised rates from near-zero in early 2022 to a two-decade high by the middle of 2023. Inflation eased under pressure from higher interest rates, nearly to the central bank’s 2 per cent target.
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The economy, including consumer spending and employment, held strong despite the squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. A slowing job market, though, has helped push a long-awaited reversal of the Fed’s policy.
Inflation rates have been warming up slightly over the last few months. A report on consumer prices this week showed an increase to 2.7 per cent in November from 2.6 per cent in October. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, will be released next week. Wall Street expects it to show a 2.5 per cent rise in November, up from 2.3 per cent in October.
The economy, though, remains solid heading into 2025 as consumers continue spending and employment remains healthy, said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY.
“Still, the outlook is clouded by unusually high uncertainty surrounding regulatory, immigration, trade and tax policy,” he said.
Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.40 per cent from 4.34 per cent late Thursday.
European markets slipped. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1 per cent. Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1 per cent month-on-month in October, following a 0.1 per cent decline in September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
Asian markets closed mostly lower.
