US Equity Indexes Mixed This Week as Rotation Away From Technology Weighs on Nasdaq

Mar 28, 202420:27 UTC

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META

US equity indexes ended the holiday shortened-week mixed, with the Nasdaq Composite a touch lower, as a rotation away from technology gathered momentum and debate on the number of interest rate cuts the Federal Reserve will deliver this year intensified.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 39,807.37 on Thursday, up from 39,475.90 on Friday last week. The S&P 500 closed at 5,254.35, compared with 5,234.18 at the end of last week. The Nasdaq ended at 16,379.46 versus 16,428.82 clocked on Friday last week. March 29 is a public holiday to observe Good Friday.

* Mega-caps Microsoft MSFT, Nvidia NVDA, and Meta Platforms META ended this week lower, restraining the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

* Technology was the worst performing sector on Thursday, a day after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank is in "no rush" to cut rates. Waller reportedly said that "it is appropriate to reduce the overall number of rate cuts" while noting that the risk is that the Fed cuts rates prematurely.

* Technology also ended at the bottom this week as investors traded cautiously ahead of the Fed's preferred inflation data due Friday.

* The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index will be the focal point for investors as hotter-than-expected consumer and producer price indexes released in March failed to effect a cut in the number of interest-rate reductions forecast this year in the Fed's updated Summary of Economic Projections. If the PCE beats the forecast, it could pile pressure on policymakers calling for three rate cuts.

* This week's top-performing sectors were utilities, energy, and basic materials. Energy also led the pack over the past month.

* The final reading for Q4 real gross domestic product showed a 3.4% annualized rate on Thursday, up from the 3.2% second estimate. The Bloomberg consensus was for unrevised. The probability the Fed will begin easing in June fell to 61% on Thursday from 64% a day ago, according to the FedWatch tool.