United States equity markets finished in a mixed fashion on Friday, as investors balanced ongoing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East with shifting expectations around Federal Reserve policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35.2 points or 0.1% to finish at 42,206.8, the S&P 500 fell 13.0 points or 0.2% to close at 5,967.9. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 98.9 points or 0.5% to 19,447.4.
Early in the session, risk appetite received a boost after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box that interest rate cuts could begin as soon as July.
His comments contrasted somewhat with remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier in the week, who stressed that the central bank would remain data-dependent.
Powell reiterated that policymakers were in no rush to cut benchmark interest rates, particularly with uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of Trump’s tariff proposals.
Chipmakers were among the hardest hit on Friday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration may revoke waivers previously granted to some semiconductor manufacturers.
NVIDIA dropped 1.1%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing lost 1.9%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which tracks the sector, slid 0.9%.
Meanwhile, crypto-linked stocks continued to rally. Circle surged 20.4% following Senate passage of the company’s proposed stablecoin legislation, the GENIUS Act.
Coinbase also gained ground, rising 4.4%. The cryptocurrency exchange derives half of its revenue from interest earned on Circle’s USDC reserves and retains the entirety of interest on USDC directly held on its platform.
U.S. markets remained closed on Thursday for the Juneteenth public holiday.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions flared over the weekend after President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the United States had launched massive precision strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, in a “spectacular military success”.
“This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Despite daily swings, the major indices ended the week little changed. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, while the Dow posted a marginal 0.02% weekly gain. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, rising 0.2% over the week.
On the bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.3% to 4.377%, while the 2-year yield dropped 0.8% to 3.906%.
