US stocks largely flat, but set to end the week with gains; Reddit soars

Investing.com-- U.S. stocks traded in a muted fashion Friday, but are set to end a week dominated by mild inflation data on a positive note.

At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 10 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 traded largely flat, and NASDAQ Composite were 13 points, or 0.1%, higher.

Wall Street set for weekly gains

All three indices are on track to record gains this week, despite minor losses Thursday, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average in sight of the psychologically-important 40,000 level, after trading above this level for the first time ever briefly on Thursday.

Helping the tone this week has been softer-than-expected consumer inflation readings, which drove these averages to record highs on Wednesday and Thursday.

However, several Fed officials have since warned that the central bank still needed more confidence to cut interest rates, and that the timing of the move remained uncertain, limiting volatility Friday.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic welcomed the softer inflation data, but warned that one positive data point did not indicate a trend, and that no expectations for rate cuts were locked in by the central bank.

Before Bostic, New York Fed President John Williams said that while the development in consumer inflation was positive, it still did not warrant an immediate reduction in interest rates.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that the Fed needed to hold rates high for longer to bring inflation down, and that the central bank needed more evidence that price pressures were cooling.

All three Fed officials are voting members of the Fed's rate-setting committee.

Their comments saw investors second-guess expectations for rate cuts this year, with traders slightly paring bets on a reduction of 25 basis points in September, according to the CME Fedwatch tool.

Reddit surges on OpenAI partnership

The earnings season is steadily winding down.

Additionally, social media platform Reddit (NYSE:RDDT) jumped over 13% after it entered a partnership with artificial intelligence major OpenAI to add its content to the firm’s AI products.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock fell 0.2%, with the aircraft manufacturer’s shareholders set to vote on whether outgoing Chief Executive David Calhoun will retain his seat on the board of the embattled planemaker.

GameStop (NYSE:GME) slumped 24%, with the favored meme stock continuing Thursday's sharp losses as a rebound rally ran dry.

Crude on track for weekly gains

Crude prices edged higher Friday, putting them on course for weekly gains fueled by signs of improving demand and slowing inflation in the United States, the largest consumer of crude in the world.

By 09:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures 0.4% higher to $79.50 per barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.2% to $83.47 a barrel. Both contracts are on track to post weekly gains of around 1%.

Aside from the softer-than-expected inflation release, oil markets have been boosted by a drop in U.S. oil inventories, which bolstered hopes that demand was improving, especially as the travel-heavy summer season approaches.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

This article first appeared in Investing.com