U.S. stocks have largely flattened on Friday after a new all-time high in the previous session, and are paying close attention to Wall Street’s upcoming Federal Reserve Conference.
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- After outperforming on Thursday to extend weekly profits, shares were largely unchanged on Friday.
- Investors are currently awaiting the highly planned Federal Reserve rate decision next week.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.14%, a 60 percentage point down, while the S&P 500 fell 0.08% at around 6,587. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite was near the flatline of -0.02%. However, all major indexes remained near fresh highs, with US stocks thriving well in a positive week.
In particular, investors’ attention is on the Federal Reserve, with the US Central Bank meeting a highly anticipated event.
A bright image of the stock market showed cryptocurrency rising. Bitcoin (BTC) made profits after surpassing $114,000, but Altcoin Bounce pushed things up like Solana and XRP.
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All the Eyes of the Fed
With the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, trader sentiment has hit the Dow Jones industrial average of over 46,000. The Blue Chip Index jump has also been reflected in other major gauges, with the benchmark S&P 500 and Tech Heavy Nasdaq increasing profits at their respective record highs.
The August Consumer Price Index Report showed that prices rose 0.4% compared to the 0.3% forecast and 0.4% compared to the 0.2% in July, but the core CPI is in line with the forecast.
The outlook comes down to economic data, with the latest employment report noting that ongoing labor market debilitation and inflation remain sticky. However, investors’ bets on Fed rate cuts are above 90%, and there is a belief that central banks will cut even further by the end of the year.
“As US CPI figures match consensus forecasts, the major market mover this morning is unemployed, far higher than expected.”
“The overall signal from this week’s data is clear. It’s something we’ve been highlighting for a while and now it’s increasingly reverberating to others. While inflation may still be beyond the Fed’s target, the greater risk to the economy lies in the pace and severity of the weakening of the labour market.”
Analysts lifted major gauge forecasts for both the year-end outlook and 2026.
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