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The S&P 500 rose slightly on Friday, with the index on pace to post a solid weekly gain, as traders kept an eye on the fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrials demurred 108.21 points to 48,077.59.
The broader index moved higher 13.49 points to 6,838.15.
The NASDAQ hiked 151.50 points to 22,863.92.
With that move, the S&P 500 has jumped about 4% this week, tracking for its best week since May. The Dow has gained more than 3% week to date, while the NASDAQ is on pace to rise 5%.
Palo Alto shares collapsed $14.02, or 8.4%, to $152.97, while those for CrowdStrike gave back $25.68, or 6.5%, to $369.00. This, after a major selloff on Thursday after faith in a partnership between these companies and AI giant Anthropic around its new Claude Mythos model faded.
Inflation was top of mind for investors this week as they assessed a number of key reports amid concerns that rising energy prices spurred by the conflict in the Middle East would ripple through the U.S. economy.
March’s consumer price index report showed that inflation was in line with expectations, standing at 0.9% for the month and 3.3% on an annual basis. That incorporated a 10.9% jump in energy costs due to the conflict in the Middle East.
When excluding energy prices, however, the report revealed inflation was tame last month. Core CPI increased just 0.2% for the month and 2.6% compared with a year ago, coming in below expectations. Inflation had been sticky at 3% heading into the U.S.-Iran war.
Nevertheless, the war has still led to a jump in inflation fears. According to a University of Michigan survey released Friday, consumers are anticipating that inflation will jump to 4.8% over the next year. That’s up a full percentage point from March’s reading.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell back a bit, raising yields to 4.31% from Wednesday’s 4.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slid 15 cents to $97.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $9.60 to $4,808.40 U.S. an ounce.
