Investing.com — The S&P 500 slipped Friday, remaining on track for a weekly loss amid cautious sentiment ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week.
At 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.2%, but the NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.2%.
Tech stumbles despite Broadcom results stoking AI optimism; Tesla climbs
Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) stock soared 20% after the chipmaker forecast higher-than-expected revenue for the current quarter, citing increased chip demand from growing interest in artificial intelligence.
The upbeat forecast and optimistic comments from executives during the earnings call saw investors largely look past softer-than-expected quarterly revenue, rekindling the enthusiasm surrounding AI.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), meanwhile, climbed more than 2% after Reuters reported that President-elect Donald Trump is considering scrapping a program that requires company’s to report automated vehicle crash data, Reuters reported. The potential could benefit the EV maker, which has reported more than 1,500 under the program.
Elsewhere, RH (NYSE:RH) stock rose 14% after the home furnishings company raised its outlook for the fourth quarter and full year, citing accelerating demand growth.
Evgo (NASDAQ:EVGO) stock rose 2.7% after the EV fast charging network finalized a $1.25 billion loan facility backed by the US Department of Energy to expand its nationwide charging network.
Fed meets next week
The economic data slate is largely empty Friday, but the previous session’s stronger-than-expected producer price index inflation data has increased uncertainty over the long-term outlook for rates.
The Federal Reserve holds its last policy-setting meeting for the year next week, and is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points. However, sticky PPI and consumer inflation data have spurred fears that the central bank will adopt a slower pace of cuts in 2025.
Trader bets on the cut at the central bank’s Dec. 17-18 meeting stand at over 96%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. However, they indicate chances of a pause in January.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
