Stock market today: Dow ekes out weekly win, but fresh inflation fears cap gains

Investing.com -- The Dow closed higher Friday, eking out a weekly gain, though upside was capped by renewed inflation fears pushing Treasury yields higher and deflating investor bets that the Fed is unlikely to resume rate hikes later this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, or 105 points, Nasdaq fell 0.6%, and the S&P 500 was 0.1% lower.

Wholesale inflation deflates ‘Fed Done’ bets

Producer price index for final demand increased 0.3% in July, above economists' forecasts of 0.2%, and pick up from the 0.1% pace seen in June. In the 12 months through July, the PPI rose 2.4%, just above estimates of 2.3%.  

“Coupled with yesterday’s headline rise in the CPI, this morning’s hotter-than-expected PPI data deflates – no pun intended – the market’s earlier optimism the Committee will move back to the sidelines in September,” Stifel said in a note.

Treasury yields climbed as bets eased that the Fed may have raised rates for the last time in July, with the 10-year Treasury yield inching closer to its October high of 5.12%.

Jump in Treasury yields keep bullish tech bets on ice; Chips sink again

Big tech, with the exception of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), struggled to turn positive as Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) led to the downside falling more than 1%.

Chip stocks continued to add pressure on tech, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipping 3% as the chipmaker fights to keep its $1 trillion valuation.

Still some on Wall Street continue to back semis, noting that the recent slew of quarterly results from semis point to an ongoing recovery.

“Recent earnings reports from chip foundries, memory companies and other major chip companies give us confidence that the chip recovery will continue in the coming months,” Nomura said in a note.

NewsCorp delivers beat on earnings stage

News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street estimates, sending its shares more than 4% higher. But the media company's revenue missed Wall Street estimates due to weakness in its book publishing and digital real estate services businesses, with the latter pressured by challenging housing market conditions in the U.S. and Australia.