Stocks fall, head toward third-straight losing weekStocks fall, head toward third-straight losing weekGiphy GIFGiphy GIF
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Stocks fall, head toward third-straight losing week
U.S. stocks extended losses Friday morning as a vicious bout of selling that has plagued the month continued ahead of the long holiday weekend.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) each sank 0.5% after struggling for direction at the open. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) tumbled 0.9%.
The U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26, in observance of Christmas Day.
The PCE core price index — the Fed’s preferred inflation measure — rose at an annual 5.5% in November and 0.1% from the prior month, on par with consensus estimates from economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The figured marked a moderation from readings of 6.1% and 0.3%, respectively, in October. Core PCE, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, rose 4.7% year-over-year and 0.2% on a monthly basis.
Meanwhile, personal spending stagnated in November to the weakest print since July. Investors will also get readings on the latest University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey and new home sales.
“The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation continues to go down, which is good news for their most important objective, but unfortunately for the market, it ...
...is happening at the same time as consumers continue to reduce their spending,” Independent Advisor Alliance Chief Investment Officer Chris Zaccarelli said in a note.
“At this point, the market has been backed into a corner, since more robust spending and higher growth is indirectly bad for the stock market (because it is likely to trigger ...
...an even stronger hawkish reaction from the Fed), while slower spending and growth is directly bad for the stock market, because it implies lower corporate earnings.”
“We’re expecting the Fed to revise down its forecasts as soon as March, though progress initially will be slow; policymakers appear to have been scarred by the experience of the ...
...past year-and-a-half, and will want to be sure they aren’t moving their numbers down prematurely,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist Ian Shepherdson said in a note.
Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android. Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube