Tesla reportedly puts IT executive in charge of North American sales
Investing.com--S&P 500 closed lower Friday, as weakness in chip stocks offset remarks from a top Federal Reserve official calling for rate cuts as soon as the Fed’s next meeting.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.3%, and the NASDAQ Composite 0.5%.
Wall Street was closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, and investors have been wary of placing any big bets this week.
Chip stocks slide on concerns of fresh US regulation on China
Chip stocks including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) led the broader sector lower after the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Trump administration aims to impose further regulatory hurdles on US semiconductor equipment shipped to China.
A U.S. official told the Journal that the administration wanted to revoke waivers that are used by companies to access American tech including semiconductor-making equipment in China.
The move, however, isn’t a new trade escalation, a U.S. official told the Journal, as it seeks to mirror the licensing system that China has in place for rare-earth materials.
Fed should cut at next meeting - Waller
On the economic front, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing survey disappointed earlier Friday, suggesting the country’s manufacturing sector was still struggling.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as expected on Wednesday, with Chair Jerome Powell mostly reiterating the Fed’s data-driven approach to any future interest rates, while also flagging persistent inflation risks from Trump’s tariff agenda.
That said, Fed governor Chris Waller said earlier Friday the central bank should consider cutting interest rates at its next meeting given recent tame inflation data and the fact that any price shock from import tariffs will be short lived, .
"Any tariff inflation ... I don’t think is going to be that big and we should just look through it in terms of setting policy," Waller said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. "The data the last few months has been showing that trend inflation is looking pretty good ... We could do this as early as July."
This would be music to President Donald Trump’s ears, after he labelled Powell as “destructive” in a Truth Social post on Thursday, adding that the central bank chair is costing the United States “hundreds of billions of dollars” by leaving rates steady.
Markets were also assessing a wave of central bank decisions over the course of the week, including announcements from the Bank of England, Norges Bank, and Swiss National Bank. A murky economic outlook due to Trump’s often erratic trade agenda played heavily into policymakers’ thoughts.
Trump to decide on Iran strike in two weeks - White House
Trump will decide on direct U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict within the next two weeks, the White House said on Thursday.
The U.S. president was seen still holding out for the possibility of nuclear talks with Tehran, even as hostilities between Israel and Iran showed little signs of cooling. While he has publicly mused about directly attacking Iran, Trump has also touted the possibility of nuclear talks with the Islamic republic.
The Israel-Iran conflict, which entered its eighth day on Friday, has kept Wall Street largely risk-off over the past week, as markets feared a wider conflict in the Middle East.
A spike in oil prices, resulting from the conflict, also sparked concerns over energy-driven inflation.
Apple heavily linked to India
In the corporate sector, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is scouting for Indian companies to manufacture the equipment required to build the company’s flagship iPhone devices in the country, Business Standard reported on Thursday.
Apple had earlier flagged plans to drastically increase its iPhone production in India, especially as its manufacturing hubs in China face increased U.S. trade tariffs. While the company still intends to maintain a manufacturing base in China, it has signaled intent to produce all of its U.S.-sold iPhones in India.
Elsewhere, Accenture (NYSE:ACN) stock fell after the services and consulting firm’s fiscal third-quarter bookings fell short even as the company lifted its earnings guidance and reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025.
CarMax (NYSE:KMX) stock surged higher after the used car retailer reported first-quarter earnings that easily topped expectations, driven by higher sales volumes and strong profit margins.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) stock rose after the Olive Garden-owner lifted its quarterly dividend by over 7%, and approved a new $1 billion share-repurchase program, even as it reported a slide in fourth-quarter operating income and provided a weaker-than-anticipated outlook for its current fiscal year.
Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article