US markets end mostly in red on Friday

28 Sep 2024 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly in red on Friday following the release of closely watched readings on U.S. consumer price inflation in the month of August. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index inched up by 0.1 percent in August after rising by 0.2 percent in July. The uptick matched expectations. The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index slowed to 2.2 percent in August from 2.5 percent in July. Street had expected the pace of growth to slow to 2.3 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index also edged up by 0.1 percent in August after increasing by 0.2 percent in July. Core prices were expected to rise by another 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index accelerated to 2.7 percent in August from 2.6 percent in July, in line with estimates. The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending. On sectoral front, oil service stocks showed a significant rebound after falling sharply over the two previous sessions, resulting in a 2.6 percent surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The rally by oil service stocks came amid an increase in the price of crude oil. Considerable strength was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent jump by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index. The index reached its best closing level in over two years. Semiconductor stocks also came under pressure over the course of the session, contributing to the dip by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Nasdaq fell 70.7 points or 0.39 percent to 18,119.59 and S&P 500 was down by 7.2 points or 0.13 percent to 5,738.17, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 137.89 points or 0.33 percent to 42,313. 


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