by Sinéad Carew and Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Friday as investors digested recent gains and remarks from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials clouded the outlook for when the U.S. central bank will could start to reduce interest rates.

The Dow Jones index gained +0.01%, or 1.81 points, to 34,947.28 points.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 5.78 points, or +0.13% to 4,514.02 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 11.81 points (+0.08%) to 14,125,481.

Fed Vice Chairman Michael Barr has said he thinks the peak of interest rate hikes is near, but San Francisco Fed Chief Mary Daly and Boston Fed Chief Susan Collins, stressed that efforts still need to be made to control inflation.

The S&P 500 .SPX, Nasdaq .IXIC and Dow .DJI posted their third straight week of gains. For the S&P and Dow Jones, this is the third longest streak of weekly gains since July. For the Nasdaq, this is the longest weekly increase since June.

“The biggest catalyst for stocks today is the fact that Treasury yields hit their lowest level in two months,” said Robert Phipps, a principal at Per Stirling in Austin, Texas.

“We’ve come a long way. We need to digest some of these moves and look for the next catalyst. Earnings are behind us. The Fed is on hold and will be on hold in December. The stock market is on hold. waiting for directions,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global in Philadelphia.

In terms of values, internet giants Alphabet and Microsoft saw their shares fall.

Amazon.com has gained ground. The e-commerce site announced it would cut several hundred jobs in its Alexa division, which runs its voice assistant tool, citing its changing business priorities and focus on generative artificial intelligence (AI). .

(Zhifan Liu for the )

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