Major indices meandered in and out of positive territory in a session devoid of the major economic news catalysts set for the coming days. These include the April jobs report, major inflation data and earnings from Apple and Amazon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.3 percent at 40,227.59.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent to 5,528.75, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.1 percent to 17,366.13.
Stocks had risen the last four days after the White House shifted towards a more conciliatory tone on trade, and President Donald Trump said he didn’t plan to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after earlier suggesting the move was possible.
Market watchers have upgraded the odds of a US recession amid uncertainty over Trump’s aggressive trade policy that has involved several major new tariffs while also pulling back on some levies.
“We’ve been waiting for some of the hard data to catch up to some of the soft data,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, pointing to weak consumer confidence data.
Hogan said even poor economic data might not significantly worry the market if it is offset by positive news on trade negotiations.
LBBW’s Karl Haeling said markets are especially interested in the jobs report as a reading on April, whereas the GDP report covers the first quarter before Trump’s most dramatic tariff announcements. (AFP)
