New York Federal Reserve President John Williams told CNBC that Thursday’s reading showing lower inflation was “distorted” by data-collection problems during the government shutdown, dampening enthusiasm about the report that raised hopes for more interest rate cuts.
The comments come ahead of the final trading stretch of 2025 amid hopes of a “Santa Claus rally”.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 48,185.52.
The broad-based S&P 500 also rose 0.5 percent to 6,809.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 23,144.81.
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Sam Stovall of CFRA Research said Williams’ comments after Thursday’s report “put a lid on the excitement.”
“There’s kind of a wait-and-see approach right now,” Stovall said. “It’s Friday before a short holiday week so maybe not many people want to install new spaces.”
Among individual companies, Nike sank 9.0 percent after reporting lower quarterly earnings as the sports giant continued to be hit by weak sales in China.
Oracle jumped 5.4 percent as it neared a deal to acquire a stake in TikTok’s US operations. TikTok said on Thursday that it has signed a joint venture deal with a group that also includes Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX.
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