U.S. stocks slipped marginally lower Friday, handing back some of the previous session’s sharp gains at the end of a volatile week.
At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index dropped 5 points, or 0.1%, and the NASDAQ Composite slipped 15 points, or 0.1%.
Wall Street indexes rebounded sharply on Thursday, recouping a measure of the steep losses seen earlier this week, as jobless claims fell 17,000 to 233,000 for the week ended Aug. 3, the largest drop in about 11 months.
However, the main indices are still down on the week, with both the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq on pace for their fourth successive losing week.
CPI data looms after volatile week
Wall Street has few major cues left to trade on as the week draws to a close, and thus focus is now turning to key consumer price index inflation data due next week.
The reading comes amid increased conviction that U.S. inflation is easing and will give the Federal Reserve enough confidence to begin cutting interest rates from September.
Recent fears of a recession saw traders bet that the Fed will cut rates by an outsized 50 basis points next month, compared to earlier expectations for a 25 basis point cut, CME Fedwatch showed.
Paramount Global surges after announcing job cuts
There are little in the way of major corporate earnings due Friday, but a number of companies released numbers after the close Thursday for investors to digest.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) stock rose 5% after the entertainment company beat Wall Street’s profit expectations and its streaming business reported its first quarterly profit in three years, while announcing it would cut 15% of its U.S. workforce as it attempts to cut costs.
Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) stock surged over 8% after the online travel company beat quarterly expectations even after it warned of a softening in travel demand in July.
By contrast, Array Technologies (NASDAQ:ARRY) slid over 12% after the solar energy technology maker lowered its annual guidance.
ELF Beauty (NYSE:ELF) stock slipped over 11% after the cosmetics company issued cautious guidance even as it raised annual sales and profit forecasts after topping first-quarter estimates.
Crude set for hefty weekly gains
Crude prices edged higher Friday, on track for hefty weekly gains as improving sentiment towards the U.S. economy and persistent geopolitical tensions boosted prices.
By 09:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) gained 0.4% to $76.51 a barrel, while the Brent contract traded 0.3% higher to $79.39 a barrel.
Both crude benchmarks were set to gain more than 3% on a weekly basis, the first positive week in five.
Better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims data on Thursday boosted sentiment and better-than-expected Chinese inflation data earlier Friday highlighted some improvements in the world’s biggest oil importer.
Traders were also seen attaching a greater risk premium to oil prices, after Ukraine mounted one of its biggest attacks on Russia since the war began in early-2022.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)