Stocks Drift as Wall Street Heads for First Losing Week in Three

Introduction

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting Friday, keeping Wall Street on track to close out its first losing week in the last three.

Market Performance

• The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher following three straight days of declines.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5 points, or less than 0.1%, at 34,495, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time.
• The Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.

Reasons for Stock Pressure

Stocks have been under pressure this week because of worries that a too-warm economy will push the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high for longer.

Traders have called off some bets for the Fed to cut rates next year, after reports showed the U.S. economy remains resilient despite much higher rates and struggles for other economies around the world.

Bond Market Impact

Such worries have pushed yields higher in the bond market, which hurts stock prices. But yields were easing on Friday, helping to give Wall Street a bit of relief.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.23% from 4.25% late Thursday.

The two-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.94% from 4.95%.

Company Earnings

Companies are basically done with reporting their earnings results for the spring, but a few on Friday were making some of the largest moves.

• Smith & Wesson Brands jumped 18.9% after the gun maker reported stronger results for the three months through July than analysts expected.
• Kroger was 0.4% higher after swinging between gains and losses following its earnings report. The grocer’s profit for the latest quarter topped analysts’ expectations, but its revenue fell short of expectations.

Upcoming Market Events

The upcoming week could be a busier one for markets globally. The centerpiece is likely the latest monthly update on inflation in the United States, due on Wednesday.

Economists expect it to show prices at the consumer level were 3.6% higher in August than a year earlier.

Also coming next week will be a decision on rates by the European Central Bank and more data about China’s economy.

Global Market Performance

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.2% after a report showed the world’s third largest economy grew at a 4.8% annual pace in the April-June quarter. That’s weaker than an earlier estimate of 6% growth.

Indexes were modestly lower across much of the rest of Asia, though a bit higher across Europe.

Conclusion

Despite the current stock pressure, the market remains uncertain as upcoming events and economic data could significantly impact future performance.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.