FILE - People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm on Sept. 5, 2023, in Tokyo. Shares fell Friday, Sept. 8 in Asia after Japan reported its economy grew less than earlier estimated in the last quarter. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are drifting, keeping Wall Street on track to close out its first losing week in the last three. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% early Friday. The Dow was flat and the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.3%. Stocks have been under pressure this week because of worries that a too-warm economy will push the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Those worries have pushed yields higher in the bond market, which hurts stock prices. Traders have called off some bets for the Fed to cut rates next year, after reports showed the U.S. economy remains resilient.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street inched lower before the market open Friday, threatening to cap a holiday-shortened week with its fourth straight loss.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrials each ticked down about 0.2% before the bell.
With earnings season mostly winding down and few major government economic reports, stocks have wobbled this week and all the major indices are on track to close the week down after recovering late in August from a three-week swoon.
Technology stocks have taken the brunt of the beating this week, led by Apple, which has tumbled 5% since reports that China was banning state employees from using iPhones. On top of investor concerns about that ban in a key market, Apple’s product launch next week could be overshadowed by the release of slick new phones by Chinese rival Huawei.
Apple’s slide has helped dragged the Nasdaq down about 2% this week. The S&P is down 1.4% heading into Friday’s open and the less-tech influenced Dow is down 1% so far this week.
Early movers Friday include gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, which is up 14% after it posted sales and profit that beat Wall Street forecasts.
Supermarket chain Kroger fell more than 3% after its second-quarter sales fell short of analyst targets.
Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX shed 0.5%, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.5% and Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.4%.
Japan, the world’s third largest economy, grew at a 4.8% annual pace in the April-June quarter, below the earlier estimate of 6% growth, according to data released Friday.
Much of that growth was driven by exports, which rose nearly 13%, while private consumption fell 2.2% on weak investment spending. A separate report showed that wages declined in July for the 16th straight month, falling 2.5% from a year earlier.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.2% to 32,606.84, while the Kospi in Seoul lost less than 1 point, to 2,547.68.
Hong Kong’s markets were closed due to a tropical storm.
The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.2% to 3,116.72, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% to 7,156.70.
In other trading Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 71 cents to $87.58 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 67 cents on Thursday.
Energy companies have broadly risen this week despite broader market declines, as crude oil prices continue to climb amid expectations that production cutbacks announced earlier this summer will be extended into fall.
Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, rose 73 cents to $90.65 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 147.42 Japanese yen from 147.30 late Thursday.
The euro was trading at $1.0704, up from $1.0697.
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