4:14pm: Weekly gains secured
Stocks finished Friday’s trading session lower but concluded the holiday-shortened week with gains.
The Nasdaq shed 0.5% at 19,954 points, the Dow Jones lost 0.3% at 44,424 points while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% at 6,101 points.
2:19pm: Market movers
Novo Nordisk shares added 8.6% after the Danish drugmaker unveiled positive early-stage trial results for its weight loss drug amycretin.
Communications platform Twilio shares surged 20.5% after the company shared impressive financial forecasts during its 2025 Investor Day event.
Allurion Technologies gained 113.2% on its intention to conduct a clinical trial combining its Allurion Program with GLP-1 treatments, targeting the lucrative weight loss drug segment.
12:46pm: Eyes on Fed’s next move
Deutsche Bank analysts expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady and provide limited guidance about future policy decisions at its upcoming meeting next week.
They aren't alone in this belief, with 99.5% of market analysts expecting rates to be held at their current level according to the FedWatch Tool by CME Group.
“While Chair Powell may not rule out a March cut as he did last January, the broad signals from the meeting should confirm that outcome is not likely,” DB analysts believe.
“To this end, Powell could emphasize that the underlying strength of the economy and signs of stabilization in the labor market reinforce patience in removing further restriction.”
The bank’s analysts see the skip at the January meeting potentially turning into an extended pause in lowering rates.
“In our view, the nominal neutral rate is around 3.75%, and there is a need for the Committee to stay restrictive relative to that level. As such, the fed funds rate is likely to remain above 4% this year, with a base case of no additional reductions,” they wrote.
11:48am: Stocks mixed, gold gains
Stocks were little changed late morning as investors weighed up a flurry of earnings reports this week and the latest political moves from newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were flat, while the Dow Jones slipped 0.1% amid end-of-week profit-taking.
Gold, on the other hand, gained 0.7% at $2,783.30 per ounce following Trump’s call for lower interest rates during a speech at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
"President Trump's wish to see lower interest rates led to a drop and one-month low in the US dollar,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph commented. “This benefitted the gold price which rallied to within a whisker of its all-time high. Meanwhile the oil price extends its rout and sees its first weekly drop in a month.”
10:45am: Business growth slows
Business activity in the US grew at a slower rate in January, weighed down by a slowdown across the service sector, data showed on Friday.
S&P’s flash composite purchasing managers index (PMI) subsided from 55.4 to 52.4 between December and January, signalling slower output growth since the turn of the year.
Missing expectations, S&P noted the moderating figure coincided with a surge in inflationary pressure to a four-month high.
Price pressures increased across both the services and manufacturing sectors, as both input and selling costs climbed.
Service sector PMI hit a nine-month low of 52.8, against December’s 56.8, while the manufacturing index climbed into growth territory from 47.7 to 50.2 for a six-month high.
Following the release of the data, the Dow fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq was down 0.1% and the S&P 500 fell 0.1%.
9:40am: Mixed start on Wall Street
Wall Street got off to a mixed start on Friday as investors awaited purchasing managers index data later in the day.
The Dow Jones headed lower, by 0.2%, at the open, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq just ticked up above the mark.
Expectations are for Friday’s PMIs to show little change between December and January, with service sector activity seen slowing slightly as manufacturing edges higher.
7:21am: Stocks seen falling
Wall Street looked set to kick off Friday on the back foot ahead of purchasing managers index data later in the day.
Futures had the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all off by 0.1% ahead of Friday’s opening bell.
The S&P 500 had notched a new record on Thursday in the midst of headlines coming from re-elected president Donald Trump.
“There is a clear optimism that we will see US businesses go from strength to strength under Trump,” Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony said.
Indeed, each of the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 enjoyed gains since Monday’s inauguration.
Mahony added inflation concerns had “eased somewhat after Trump noted that he would rather not put tariffs on Chinese imports,” ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate call next week.
Prior to the decision, which markets were anticipating would see rates held, PMIs and anticipations of little change on December’s readings were set to be in focus on Friday.