Investing.com – Wall Street traded mixed on Friday, as U.S. stocks continued their pattern of muted summer holiday trade in a session with no major economic reports, while investors continued to keep an eye on signals from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and market participants pocketed gains in oil.
At 15:18GMT, or 11:18AM ET, the Dow 30 lost 31 points, or 0.17%, the S&P 500 fell 5 points, or 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 3 points, or 0.05%.
Even as the major indices managed to hit new record highs on Monday, traders were hard pressed to find further reasons to put more money in equities.
The S&P 500 was on track to close the week flat after ending higher for six of the prior eight weeks. The benchmark index hasn’t closed with a 1% or more move since July 8 as investors based buying on upbeat earnings and economic reports amid expectations that the Fed will maintain accommodative monetary policy given the lack of signs of inflation.
After minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting showed members divided over the future path of monetary policy, market players have continued to chew over remarks from various Fed officials throughout the week.
After the close on Thursday, San Francisco Fed president John Williams argued for a rate hike “sooner than later” and insisted that September was definitely “in play”.
Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan later commented that policy normalization was hampered by a low neutral rate.
Markets will have to wait until next week to hear from Fed Chair Janet Yellen who will be giving a speech on August 26 at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium to find out where the U.S. central bank chief stands on the future path of monetary policy.
Odds for a rate hike in September were only 15% on Friday though the probability for a move at the end of the year crawled back above the 50% threshold on Friday, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Though the dollar edged up off seven-week lows on Friday, it was still on track for weekly losses of more than 1% as the dovish read of the Fed meeting minutes pummeled the green lower this week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.47% at 94.55, at 15:20GMT or 11:20ET.
Meanwhile, market participants took profits in crude on Friday after oil prices rallied for six straight days to hit two-month highs.
Both U.S. crude and London’s Brent had entered a bull-market this week, gaining more than 20% since August lows on hopes that OPEC members would take measures to support oil prices when they meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum next month.
Additionally, investors looked ahead to fresh information on U.S. drilling activity.
According to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. last week increased by 15 to 396, the seventh consecutive weekly rise and its longest stretch of increases since April 2014.
U.S. crude futures lost 0.33% to $48.06 by 15:21GMT, or 11:21AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 0.92% to $50.42.
In company news, Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) soared almost 7% on Friday after the semiconductor chip maker beat estimates and published record highs in new orders.
Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) jumped 10% after reporting a better than expected top and bottom line.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) also gained 9% on better than expected profit.
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) gained nearly 2% despite the fact that the clothing retailer produced a profit-forecast that missed consensus.
On the downside, Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) tumbled almost 4% as sales missed consensus and guidance disappointed.