Wall Street closes up, another weekly gain ahead of inflation data
Federal Reserve officials and looked ahead to crucial inflation data next week.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were modestly higher and the Nasdaq ended essentially unchanged. All three indexes were up for the week with the blue-chip Dow nabbing its largest Friday-to-Friday percentage advance since mid-December.
Commentary from several Fed officials helped set expectations as market participants looked toward next week's inflation data.
«Nobody really wants to take a big position prior to next week,» said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. «And we're getting into a time of year where people seem to slip out early on Fridays.»
«The biggest story is the decline in Consumer Sentiment, but outside of that there isn't much to hang your hat on,» Carlson added.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic acknowledged recent clues the economy is slowing, but added the timing of rate cuts remains uncertain.
Striking a more hawkish tone, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said it was unclear whether monetary policy was tight enough to bring inflation down to the central bank's 2% target.
Hints of progress toward that target will come next week when the Labor Department releases its Consumer and Producer price indexes (CPI and PPI).
Analysts expect the crucial CPI report to show underlying «core» price of 3.6% year-on-year, which would be the coolest reading in over three years.
«The Fed is geared not to raise rates but cut them, so 'higher for longer' is about as dire as it's
