Caution at Wall Street: Investors in Waiting Mode Ahead of New Economic Data

The week at the New York Stock Exchange began with a slight loss as investors prepared for the upcoming release of critical economic indicators that could provide insights into the future monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial continued its downward trend, losing 0.41 percent, now standing at 39,313.64 points. Thus, the high from the previous Thursday, when the Dow had reached a record level, could not be maintained. In the US, the public is particularly looking for the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation measure, also known as the Federal Reserve's preferred price indicator. Commerzbank experts predict a significant rise in the price index, largely composed of the already published consumer and producer prices. Nevertheless, this new data will only affect the US markets in the following week, as trading will be suspended on the upcoming Good Friday. The broader S&P 500 recorded a decline of 0.31 percent to 5,218.19 points, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed down 0.34 percent at 18,277.06 points. In the aviation industry, several companies were in the spotlight. Boeing announced a CEO change at the end of the year – a move that comes amid a corporate crisis following a near-mishap. Following the announcement, Boeing's shares gained 1.4 percent. Conversely, United Airlines shares fell 3.4 percent after Bloomberg reported talks with the FAA regarding potential stringent measures and route restrictions ahead of the summer season. Technology stocks like AMD and Intel also came into focus after a "Financial Times" report indicated they are affected by Chinese efforts to restrict the use of American microprocessors and servers in state computer networks. However, the losses were limited during the day. Entertainment giant Walt Disney was also in the news after its shares climbed to the top of the Dow and gained 3 percent upward, following a positive analyst comment from Barclays. Lucid shares experienced an appreciation of 5.4 percent due to news of increased investment from Saudi investor Ayar Third. For the internet phenomenon Reddit, it was a steep climb – the shares surged by an incredible 30 percent after having just recently celebrated their market debut on Thursday. In late trading, the euro remained relatively stable against the US dollar, with a rate of 1.0838 US dollars. The European Central Bank set the reference rate at 1.0835 dollars. In response, US Treasury bonds had to give way slightly. The T-Note future fell by 0.23 percent to 110.50 points, leading to a rising yield of the ten-year bonds to 4.25 percent.