U.S. stocks gave up early gains to end lower on Friday. After reaching record intraday highs, the Nasdaq slid 126.08 points or 0.7 percent to 17,732.60 and the S&P 500 fell 22.39 points or 0.4 percent to 5,460.48. The narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, edging down 45.20 points or 0.1 percent to 39,118.86. For the week, the Nasdaq rose by 0.2 percent but the Dow and the S&P 500 both edged down by 0.1 percent. However, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 posted substantial gains for the first half.
The PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) price index came in unchanged in May after ticking up 0.3 percent in April. The annual rate of core inflation growth slowed to 2.6 percent, marking its lowest reading since March 2021 and reinforcing investor expectations for at least one interest rate cut later this year. The core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy prices, inched up by 0.1 percent in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in April. The annual rate of growth by core prices also slowed to 2.6 percent in May from 2.8 percent in April, in line with economist estimates.
Treasury yields however stay elevated at around 4.4% as consumer price growth still remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2.0 percent target and suggested the latest data is not likely to convince the central bank to accelerate its plans to lower rates. Meanwhile, the dollar index fell toward 105.6 on Monday, sliding for the third straight session, weighed down mainly by the euro?s strength following the first round of France?s snap election over the weekend.
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