U.S. Stocks were little changed Friday, as Wall Street headed for a losing week amid concern that the Federal Reserve could raise rates more than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points, or 0.04%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% along with the Nasdaq Composite.
GameStop slid 4% as SEC is investigating GameStop’s chairman Ryan Cohen’s ownership—and surprise sale—of Bed Bath & Beyond shares at a time when such so-called meme stocks were all the rage with investors.
VinFast soared 8%. It has seen its market capitalization fall more than $140 billion in less than two weeks, weighed down by a six-day losing streak in the company's stock.
Shares of e-signature stock DocuSign rose 3% in the premarket after the company beat second-quarter estimates on the top and bottom lines and posted rosy third-quarter guidance. RH dropped 8% as the home furnishings company reported soft guidance for third-quarter revenue.
The Dow and S&P 500 were down nearly 1% and 1.4%, respectively, for the week. The Nasdaq has lost 2% in that time.
Renewed fears over more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve were further justified as initial jobless claims came in at 216,000 — lower than the 230,000 anticipated by economists polled by Dow Jones. Investors are calling for roughly 1 in 2 odds that policy makers will raise rates in November as of Thursday night, per the CME Fed Watch tool.
“August was a difficult month, with weak data, and September may be the same,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. ”Beyond that, though, the prospects remain good. Any recession is likely some time away, which should keep markets healthy.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite on Thursday suffered a fourth consecutive day of declines, slumping nearly 0.9%. The S&P 500 lost 0.3%, falling a third day. The 30-stock Dow was the outlier, rising by about 0.2%, or 57.54 points.
