The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Friday but was still on pace for a losing week as traders weighed the latest comments made by President Donald Trump related to the Federal Reserve and geopolitics.
The Dow Jones Industrials lost 83.11 points to 49,359.33
The much-broader index brushed off 4.46 points to 6,940.01
The NASDAQ dropped 14.63 points to 23,515.39.
Monday, markets in the U.S. are to be closed for Martin Luther King Day.
The three major averages hit their session lows after Trump delivered remarks in the White House Friday, in which he said he’d rather have National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stay in his current role and might not be chosen to become the next Fed chair.
The major averages are coming off a winning session thanks to gains in chip stocks. Taiwan Semiconductor led the advance after a blowout fourth-quarter report. Further, the U.S. and Taiwan reached a trade agreement in which Taiwanese chip and tech companies will invest at least $250 billion in production capacity in America.
Taiwan Semi and other chip stocks like Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices were higher Friday, offering support to the broader market.
Bank stocks were weak in the weekly period despite strong earnings as concerns around Trump’s call for a cap on credit card interest rates persisted. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America were among the laggards, falling more than 4% and more than 5% week to date, respectively.
Investors closed out a hectic week. They’d been grappling with a slate of headlines out of Washington, running the gamut from heightened geopolitical risk in Iran and Greenland to worries over threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury withered, lifting yields to 4.23%, from Thursday’s 4.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 33 cents to $59.52 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices unloaded $33.30 to $4,590.40.
