By Saumya Vaishampayan And Corrie Driebusch
U.S. stocks were little changed Friday after a
stronger-than-expected reading on inflation in April.
Federal Reserve officials are watching for signs that inflation
is picking up as they debate when to raise short-term rates for the
first time since June 2006.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points, or 0.1%, to
18273. The S&P 500 slipped 1.4 points, or 0.1%, to 2129 while
the Nasdaq Composite rose 5.6 points, or 0.1%, to 5096.
The consumer-price index rose 0.1% in April from a month
earlier, the Labor Department said Friday. Excluding the food and
energy categories, so-called core prices gained 0.3%, the largest
increase since January 2013. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street
Journal had expected overall prices to increase 0.1% and core
prices to rise 0.2%.
Stocks rose Thursday, propelling the S&P 500 to a record
close. The S&P added 0.2% to 2130.82. The Dow was up 0.34 point
to 18285.74, ending 0.1% below its most recent record of
18312.39.
The Dow and S&P both hit all-time highs this week, even as
the week is on pace to be the slowest in stock trading since the
week including New Year's Day. Trading has been quiet as traders
say fewer investors are placing orders ahead of the long weekend.
The stock market will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.
The Dow industrials have risen 0.1% for the week through
Thursday's close. The S&P and Nasdaq are on track to post more
substantial gains, up 0.4% and 0.8% in the same period,
respectively.
"We've got the Dow and S&P touching new highs, but it
doesn't seem to be with very much enthusiasm," said Colin
Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
In Europe, Germany's DAX slipped 0.4%, while France's CAC 40 was
flat.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak
about the U.S. economic outlook at 1 p.m. ET.
In commodity markets, gold futures slipped 0.1% to $1202.70 an
ounce. Crude-oil futures lost 1.5% to $59.79 a barrel. The yield on
the 10-year Treasury note was at 2.207%, compared with 2.186% on
Thursday. Yields fall as prices rise.
In corporate news, Deere & Co.'s shares rose 3.7% after the
farm equipment producer reported its profit dropped in the latest
quarter though results were still better than feared.
Campbell Soup Co. reported its profit easily topped expectations
in the latest quarter as the company scaled back promotions and
began implementing cost-cutting plans. Shares rose 2.4%.
Aéropostale Inc. shares tumbled 17% after the teen retailer
projected a wider-than-expected loss for the July quarter.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com and
Corrie Driebusch at corrie.driebusch@wsj.com