The trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA on September 12, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Nasdaq Composite It hit a perfect weekly high on Friday as investors weakened jobs and tame inflation and suppressed signs that the Federal Reserve would fall next week.
The high-tech Nasdaq closed 0.44% higher and settled at 22,141.10. Tesla stock. A wide market S&P 500 Hovered around the flatline and finished at 6,584.29, falling just 0.05%. Blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average 273.78 points (0.59%) closed at 45,834.22. Each closed at record levels on Thursday, with the Dow finishing above 46,000 for the first time, with three major averages earning a weekly period.
The S&P 500, which has risen 1.6% so far, has performed best every week since early August, earning its fifth positive week in six. Nasdaq won for the second consecutive week with a 2% advance in the period, with the Dow’s first positive week in three weeks after seeing a 1% rise of 1%.
Investors are currently preparing for the Fed’s decision on whether to lower benchmark interest rates on September 17, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Economic data released this week would support such a decision, according to Bill Norsey, investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The consumer price index was slightly higher than expected in August on Thursday, but the usual significant inflation report was hidden by weekly unemployed claims that have shown an unexpected jump to the highest level since October 2021.
These reports, along with a downward revision of employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this week, further confirming the “slowering labor market,” telling CNBC that inflation is “really set for reductions next week.”
“This is a Fed that is reluctant to surprise the market, and therefore I think they’ll oppose it because there’s a solid hope for that 25 basis point rate cut,” he said.
Northee added that through a brief summary of the Fed’s press conference and economic forecasts, investors need to be more clear about the median central bank’s outlook on both economic growth and inflation outlook regarding the positioning of monetary policy against it.
“All of these three factors actually work to create even more interest rate curves,” he continued. “This should be a very rich meeting (we’ll see) in the middle of next week.”
