S&P 500 slips amid inflation worries

The S&P 500 fell on Friday and notched its second-straight weekly loss, with technology stocks under pressure as inflation concerns remain front and centre ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week.

The broad market index lost 0.65 per cent to close at 5,117.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 190.89 points, or 0.49 per cent, to finish the session at 38,714.77, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.96 per cent to 15,973.17.

The S&P 500 shed 0.13 per cent last week. The 30-stock Dow inched lower by 0.02 per cent on the week, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7 per cent.

Tech shares were broadly lower, with Amazon and Microsoft down more than 2 per cent each. Shares of Apple and Google-parent Alphabet also fell. Chip giant Nvidia has whipsawed last week as traders worry about the stock’s valuation and book profits in the high-flying name; it ended the day slightly lower but was up about 0.4 per cent for the week.

As a result, Tech was the worst performer on Friday. Energy was the best performer.

Investors remain hyper vigilant after a slew of data from earlier in the week. February’s producer price index, a gauge of wholesaler inflation, advanced more than economists anticipated. The data has helped push the benchmark 10-year Treasury higher by about 22 basis points last week, as investors wondered if the recent economic data was too strong for the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy. The Fed will begin its two-day policy meeting on March 19.

To be sure, fed funds futures are pricing in a 99 per cent likelihood of the central bank keeping interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Crude oil prices experienced a slight decline on Friday, yet recorded a weekly gain fueled by market expectations of tightening supply. The West Texas Intermediate contract for April settled at $81.04 a barrel, while the Brent contract for May settled at $85.34 a barrel, with both showing a cumulative increase of over 3.5 per cent for the week.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 8.00am was buying 65.61 US cents.

Commodities

Gold lost 0.28 per cent. Silver gained 1.28 per cent. Copper added 1.95 per cent. Oil lost 0.27 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.20 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.03 per cent, and Paris closed 0.04 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.26 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.42 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.54 per cent..

On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.56 per cent lower at 7,670.28.

Ex-dividends
Chorus Limited (ASX:CNU) is paying 15.1971 cents unfranked
HUB24 Ltd (ASX:HUB) is paying 18.5 cents fully franked
L1 Long Short Fund (ASX:LSF) is paying 5.75 cents fully franked
Prime Financial (ASX:PFG) is paying 0.75 cents fully franked
Saunders Intl Ltd (ASX:SND) is paying 2 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Centrepoint Alliance Ltd (ASX:CAF)
Contact Energy Ltd (ASX:CEN)
Mitchell Services Ltd (ASX:MSV)
Stanmore Resources Ltd (ASX:SMR)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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