On Friday, stocks on Wall Street slid lower but stayed on track for weekly gains as fairly healthy data helped ease worries over the economy slowing down.
The NASDAQ Composite slipped 60 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 dropped 13 points, or 0.2%, and the dow jones Industrial Average fell 30 points, or 0.1%.
The broad-based S&P 500 is still set for a gain of more than 3% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite over 5%, which would be their largest weekly gain since Nov. last year. The blue-chip dow jones Industrial Average has risen over 2%, which was also its best performance this year.
This week’s softer U.S. inflation data has increased the chances of an interest rate cut by the Fed at its next meeting in September, although retail sales as well as healthy labor market data indicate a 0.25% cut rather than a more aggressive one.
University of Michigan sentiment data will be released later in the session, but the main focus will be on the central bank gathering in Jackson Hole next week, as U.S. Fed chief Jerome Powell will likely be fine-tuning his message before the monetary policy meeting in September.
