US markets end lower on Friday amid concerns about outlook for interest rates

16 Mar 2024 Evaluate

The US markets magnified their losses and ended lower on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's monetary policy meeting next week. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates. Recent hotter-than-expected inflation readings have reduced optimism about the likelihood of the Fed's first rate cut coming in June. According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the probability of the Fed leaving rates unchanged at its June meeting has climbed from 25 percent to 43.3 percent.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. increased in line with street estimates in the month of February. The Labor Department said import prices rose by 0.3 percent in February after climbing by 0.8 percent in January. The uptick matched expectations. Meanwhile, the report said export prices advanced by 0.8 percent in February following an upwardly revised 0.9 percent increase in January. Street had expected export prices to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.8 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

The Fed also released a report showing a slight increase in U.S. industrial production in the month of February, with manufacturing and mining output recovering from weather-related declines in January. The Fed said industrial production inched up by 0.1 percent in February after falling by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in January. Street had expected industrial production to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, preliminary data released by the University of Michigan unexpectedly showed a slight deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of March. The report said the consumer sentiment index edged down to 76.5 in March after falling to 76.9 in February.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 190.89 points or 0.49 percent to 38,714.77, Nasdaq fell 155.35 points or 0.96 percent to 15,973.17 and S&P 500 was down by 33.39 points or 0.65 percent to 5,117.09.

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