US stocks pull back as investors digest inflation data

New York, Aug 29, 2025 (AFP)
Wall Street stocks retreated Friday ahead of a long weekend as investors assessed data showing that underlying inflation accelerated slightly.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge was steady at 2.6 percent in July from a year ago, said the Commerce Department in a report.
But excluding the volatile food and energy segments, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.9 percent from a year prior, up from 2.8 percent in June.
"The PCE came in very much as expected," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. "That certainly leaves the door wide open for the Fed to cut (interest rates) in September."
Around 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent to 45,574.12, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.3 percent to 6,484.79.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6 percent to 21,579.22.
"We're also coming into a summer Friday end of the month, and in front of a long weekend, so it'll be very difficult to find a catalyst away from this that's going to make a big difference in markets today," Hogan said.
On Thursday, two of Wall Street's major indexes closed at record highs, boosted by an upward revision to second-quarter US GDP growth and strong results from AI chip giant Nvidia.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has recently opened the door to lowering interest rates, and investors are hopeful for a rate cut at policymakers' upcoming meeting in September.

Sumber : AFP