Stocks edged lower ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week, marking the third consecutive day of losses for the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Despite finishing at a less severe level, all major averages ended negatively. The Nasdaq fell by 1.0 percent, the S&P 500 by 0.7 percent, and the Dow by 0.5 percent.
For the week, the Nasdaq decreased by 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 dropped by 0.1 percent, and the Dow remained almost unchanged. This Wall Street decline partially reflects concerns over the future of interest rates before next week's Fed's policy meeting.
While it is expected that the Fed will not change interest rates, traders will be keenly perusing the forthcoming statement to gain insights into future rate plans. Recent inflation readings, which were higher than expected, have lowered expectations for a rate cut by the Fed in June.
The CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates that the probability of the Fed keeping rates unchanged at its next meeting has increased from 25 percent to 43.3 percent.
In economic news, a Labor Department report revealed that import prices in the U.S. rose by 0.3 percent in February, aligning with economists' predictions, and following a 0.8 percent increase in January. Meanwhile, export prices saw a 0.8 percent increase during the same period following an upward revision of a 0.9 percent increase in January.
The Fed also reported a slight rise in U.S. industrial production in February as manufacturing and mining output recovered from weather-related setbacks in January. Additionally, the University of Michigan reported an unexpected slight decline in U.S. consumer sentiment in March.
In specific sectors, software stocks experienced significant losses, led by Adobe which fell 13.7 percent following its announcement of disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter. Computer hardware and retail stocks also suffered considerable losses.
Concerning overseas trading, Asia-Pacific regional stock markets were primarily down. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index resisted the trend, rising 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, European markets ended the day flat. Bond market performances were also flat, with the yield on the ten-year note rising marginally to 4.304 percent.
Next week, attention will focus on the Fed's monetary policy meeting, overshadowing reports on homebuilder confidence, housing starts, and existing home sales.
