US equity indexes displayed a mixed performance in choppy midday trading on Friday as most government bond yields experienced a decline following the release of fresh inflation data indicating a general easing of price pressures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced an uptick of 0.6%, reaching 42,437.9 after achieving a new intraday high of 42,628.32 earlier in the session.
Conversely, the S&P 500 remained relatively unchanged at 5,742.4, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a decrease of 0.4%, settling at 18,118. Energy and utilities sectors led the gains, with most other sectors in the positive territory post midday trading. However, technology and consumer discretionary stocks represented a trio of sectors that declined. In terms of economic indicators, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index registered a modest increase of 0.1% in August, aligning with expectations and resulting in a slowdown of the year-over-year rate from 2.5% in July to 2.2%.
Additionally, the index saw a month-over-month rise of 0.2% in July. The core PCE, which omits the more volatile food and energy prices, also witnessed a rise of 0.1%, falling short of the projected 0.2% increase and following a similar 0.2% gain in July. Year-over-year, this core rate accelerated from 2.6% to 2.7% in August. On another note, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised upward to 70.1 for September from a preliminary estimate of 69, surpassing expectations of 69.4 as per a survey conducted by Bloomberg.
This revision represents an improvement from the final reading of 67.9 in August. Respondents reported an anticipated inflation rate of 2.7% over the next year, indicating a slight decline from the 2.8% rate observed in August, while five-year inflation expectations increased to 3.1%, having held steady at 3% for the previous five months. Furthermore, most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year yield reduced by 3.7 basis points to 3.75%, while the two-year rate experienced a decrease of 5.4 basis points, settling at 3.57%. In corporate news, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) has obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Cobenfy drug, intended for treating schizophrenia in adults.
Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices rose by 1.1%, reaching $68.41 per barrel..