On Friday, most stocks saw a decline, resulting in the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 extending their downturn seen over the previous two sessions. However, selling pressure remained modest, reducing the negative impact on major averages. At present, these major averages remain lower than their session peaks but still show negative performance. The Nasdaq stands lower by 89.17 points or 0.6% at 16,039.36, the S&P 500 is lower by 15.57 points or 0.3% at 5,134.91, and the Dow is down by 46.55 points or 0.1% at 38,859.11.
The Wall Street slump could stem from anxieties relating to interest rate prospects in light of the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy meeting. While no changes are expected for the interest rates, traders will likely scrutinize the statement for indicators regarding future rates. Recent inflation rates exceeding expectations resulted in diminished optimism for the Fed's first rate decrease, anticipated in June.
According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the likelihood of the Fed leaving rates unchanged at the June meeting rose from 25% to 41.6%. A report by the Labor Department revealed that U.S. import prices in February aligned with economist forecasts.
Despite experiencing a sharp decrease on Thursday, housing stocks bounced back with commendable vigor, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index upward by 1.1%. Software stocks, however, faced notable weaknesses. Much of the sector's downturn was due to Adobe's sharp 13.6% dip following its fiscal first quarterly results which included underwhelming revenue projections for the next quarter.
In international trade, most Asia-Pacific region stock markets saw a decline on Friday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down by 1.4%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index down by 0.3%. China's Shanghai Composite Index, conversely, experienced a 0.5% uptick. The primary European markets showed varied performance; the UK's FTSE 100 Index decreased by 0.1%, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Lastly, there is a small downturn in the bond market, continuing the trend observed this week. As a result, the yield on the ten-year note, which runs counter to its price, rose by 1.8 basis points to 4.316%.
