Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
NYSE
The
S&P
500
fell
on
Friday
and
notched
its
second-straight
weekly
loss,
with
technology
stocks
under
pressure
as
inflation
concerns
remain
front
and
center
ahead
of
the
Federal
Reserve’s
policy
meeting
next
week.
The
broad
market
index
lost
0.65%
to
close
at
5,117.09.
The
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
dipped
190.89
points,
or
0.49%,
to
finish
the
session
at
38,714.77,
while
the
Nasdaq
Composite
slipped
0.96%
to
15,973.17.
The
S&P
500
shed
0.13%
this
week.
The
30-stock
Dow
inched
lower
by
0.02%
on
the
week,
and
the
Nasdaq
slipped
0.7%.
Tech
shares
were
broadly
lower,
with
Amazon
and
Microsoft
down
more
than
2%
each.
Shares
of
Apple
and
Google-parent
Alphabet
also
fell.
Chip
giant
Nvidia
has
whipsawed
this
week
as
traders
worry
about
the
stock’s
valuation
and
book
profits
in
the
high-flying
name;
it
ended
the
day
slightly
lower
but
was
up
about
0.4%
for
the
week.
Investors
remain
hyper
vigilant
after
a
slew
of
data
from
earlier
in
the
week.
February’s
producer
price
index,
a
gauge
of
wholesaler
inflation,
advanced
more
than
economists
anticipated.
The
data
has
helped
push
the
benchmark
10-year
Treasury
higher
by
about
22
basis
points
this
week,
as
investors
wondered
if
the
recent
economic
data
was
too
strong
for
the
Federal
Reserve
to
loosen
monetary
policy.
The
Fed
will
begin
its
two-day
policy
meeting
on
March
19.
Recent
economic
releases
could
throw
into
question
whether
the
Fed
feels
inflation
has
cooled
enough
to
begin
lowering
levels
later
this
year
and
could
raise
long-term
borrowing
rates,
according
to
Macquarie
global
FX
and
rates
strategist
at
Thierry
Wizman.
“I
think
the
other
issue
here
is
not
just
the
2024
and
2025
[dot
plot],
its
the
other
issues
that
the
Fed
is
thinking
about
which
includes
that
the
market
is
too
frothy,”
Wizman
said.
“For
that
reason
it
could
signal
that
it
thinks
long-term
interest
rates
should
be
higher.”
To
be
sure,
fed
funds
futures
are
pricing
in
a
99%
likelihood
of
the
central
bank
keeping
interest
rates
unchanged
at
its
policy
meeting
next
week,
according
to
the
CME
FedWatch
Tool.
