NEW YORK, United States — Wall Street stocks finished a choppy session slightly higher Thursday as markets looked ahead to US inflation data expected to influence upcoming interest rate decisions.
Friday’s PCE price data will come on the heels of a slight upward revision in first-quarter gross domestic product to 1.4 percent, from 1.3 percent in the government’s prior report.
The market is “being quite tentative about making an assessment before the actual PCE data is released,” said CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall.
A good inflation reading would “give investors the confidence that maybe the Fed will start to cut rates sooner rather than later,” Stovall added.
READ: US Fed’s Barkin: Inflation data ‘not supportive’ of case for rate cuts
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.1 percent at 39,164.06.
The broad-based S&P 500 also climbed 0.1 percent to 5,482.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index won 0.3 percent to end at 17,858.68.
Besides Friday’s data, investors are looking ahead to Thursday night’s presidential debate featuring President Joe Biden and predecessor Donald Trump.
Analysts say politics typically has greater influence on markets closer to the November election.
The IMF trimmed the estimated growth for the US economy in 2024 by 0.1 percent to 2.6 percent, noting that shelter inflation has moderated more slightly than expected.
READ: IMF slightly downgrades US economic forecast for 2024
On the positive side, “the US economy has proven itself to be robust, dynamic, and adaptable to changing global conditions,” the IMF said.
Among individual stocks, Walgreens Boots Alliance slumped more than 22 percent as the pharmacy chain lowered its full-year profit forecast, citing “challenging pharmacy industry trends and a worse-than-expected US consumer environment.”
Micron Technology fell 7.1 percent despite reporting solid profits and higher sales. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare called the decline “sell-the-news” response after earlier gains by the chipmaker.
Levi Strauss & Co plunged 15.3 percent despite reporting an eight percent rise in revenue, although that was still less than expected.