NEW YORK: US stock indexes were flat on Friday as focus turned to next week's Federal Reserve meeting, while technology and growth- exposed sectors gained after inflation data calmed fears over a long-term spike in consumer prices.
The S&P 500 traded just below a record high of 4,249.74, with heavyweight technology stocks serving as the largest boost. Sectors such as financials and basic resources, that stand to benefit from an economic bounceback this year, also supported the index.
Investors scaled back expectations for early policy tightening by the Fed after May's consumer price data suggested a recent spike in inflation would be transitory.
At 12:02 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 60.11 points, or 0.17%, at 34,406.13 and the S&P 500 was down 1.78 points, or 0.04%, at 4,237.40. The Nasdaq Composite was up 7.14 points, or 0.05%, at 14,027.47.
Healthcare stocks sank 1.1% and were among the worst-performing S&P sectors amid growing criticism of the US Food and Drug Administration's controversial approval of an Alzheimer's drug developed by Biogen Inc.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set for mild weekly gains, as a lack of major catalysts and a summer lull in trading saw them move in a tight range.
But weakness in major industrial stocks saw the Dow Jones set for a weekly loss amid doubts over whether President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure spending plan would pass.
The S&P industrials sector was flat on Friday, and was set to lose for the week.
Cruise operators fell, with Royal Caribbean Group shedding 0.4% after two guests on its Celebrity Millennium ship had tested positive for Covid-19.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.30-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 83 new highs and 10 new lows.
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