U.S. Stocks Close Little Changed Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - Following the mixed performance seen during Thursday's session, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq slipped 30.50 points or 0.2 percent to 14,032.81, the Dow inched up 2.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 35,227.69 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.47 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,536.34.

With the uptick, the Dow closed higher for the tenth straight session and surged 2.1 percent for the week. The S&P 500 also climbed by 0.7 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq fell by 0.6 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy meeting next week.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Recent encouraging inflation data has led to optimism next week's rate hike will be the last, and traders will be looking for confirmation from the Fed.

A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept traders on the sidelines following the release of several key reports earlier in the week.

Among individual stocks, shares of American Express (AXP) moved sharply lower after the credit card giant reported better than expected second quarter earnings but weaker than expected revenues.

Railroad operator CSX Corp. (CSX) also came under pressure after reporting second quarter revenues that fell short of expectations.

Meanwhile, shares of Scholastic (SCHL) surged after the publisher reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter earnings and increased its stock repurchase by $100 million.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors ended the day only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.

Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the Dow Jones Utility Average climbing by 1.3 percent to a two-month closing high.

Notable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Healthcare, oil and semiconductor stocks also saw some strength on the day, while tobacco and banking stocks moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries regained ground after moving sharply lower in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.7 basis points to 3.837 percent.

Looking Ahead

While the Fed decision is likely to be in the spotlight next week, traders are also likely to keep an eye on the latest earnings, including quarterly results from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).

Reports on consumer confidence, new home sales, durable goods, second quarter GDP and personal income and spending are also likely to attract attention.