Markets closed off a lackluster week as the major stock indices either slightly dipped or remained flat on Friday. The S&P 500 posted a daily drop of 0.2% and a weekly decline of 1.3%. The Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, and the Dow Jones was essentially flat with a daily gain of 0.1%.
“That means two weeks of uncertainty for financial markets, but investors are still inclined to see the Middle East conflict as a local, not a global, economic issue,” Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a Friday analyst note.
On Wednesday, the Fed decided to hold interest rates steady for its fourth meeting in a row. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed for interest rate cuts since he took office in January. “Uncertainty about the economic outlook has diminished but remains elevated,” wrote the Fed in a Wednesday statement.
While the central bank struck a cautiously optimistic approach to the U.S. economy, some analysts were more pessimistic.
“The slump in single-family construction is deepening, another headwind to activity and employment,” wrote Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen, economists for Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a Friday research note.
