NEW YORK, May 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, despite the three major indexes showing a slight slowdown earlier in the session following the news of consumer sentiment reaching a six-month low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125.08 points, or 0.32 percent, to 39,512.84, hitting its eighth straight session of gains. The S&P 500 added 8.60 points, or 0.16 percent, to 5,222.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5.40 points, or 0.03 percent, to 16,340.87.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer staples and technology leading the gainers by going up 0.64 percent and 0.48 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer discretionary and energy led the laggards by dropping 0.61 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.
U.S. consumer confidence in May experienced a notable decline to its lowest point in six months due to concerns about persistent high inflation and interest rates, alongside worries about potential unemployment increases. The preliminary results of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index showed a drop to 67.4 this month compared to April's final reading of 77.2. Despite this decrease, May's figure remains approximately 14 percent higher than the same period last year. Consumer outlook has been consistently negative since the pandemic began, especially following the significant inflation surge in 2021.
The bar for another Federal Reserve rate hike is high, but further tightening can't be ruled out, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said Friday. Kashkari and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee noted that big gains on the supply side helped drive disinflation. The question now is whether that has played out. If so, that would leave it up to monetary policy to bring inflation down from 3 percent to 2 percent, Kashkari said.
Goolsbee also said he doesn't think inflation is stuck above the central bank's target despite recent data showing price pressures picked up at the start of the year. "There isn't at this time much evidence, in my view, that inflation is stalling out at 3 percent," he said at an event on Friday.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman also said Friday that she believes interest rates need to stay where they are "for a bit longer," echoing similar sentiments made by other Fed officials in recent weeks.
