Wall Street edges up in 'holding pattern'
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index ended higher on Friday in a choppy trading session, as gains in defensive shares overshadowed energy declines, and investors shrugged off hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials about interest rate hikes. The S&P 500 finished almost half a percent up at 3,965, the Nasdaq gained 0.01 percent to 11,146, and the Dow Jones rose 0.59 percent, to 33,745.  For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent, retreating modestly after a strong month-long rally spurred by softer-than-expected inflation data that sparked hopes the central bank could temper its market-punishing rate hikes. The Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent for the week, while the Dow was basically unchanged. "Markets are in a bit of a holding pattern" ahead of employment and other economic data, said Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. "What is driving all equities of course is Fed policy and the gravitational force that rising interest rates have on the equity complex as a whole," she said. "We are not likely to see any real evidence in terms of potentially declining wage pressure or inflation pressure for another couple of weeks.” Defensive groups led the way among S&P 500 sectors, with utilities up 2 percent, real estate rising 1.3 percent and healthcare climbing 1.2 percent higher. The energy sector fell 0.9 percent, as oil prices dropped, stemming from concern about weakened demand in China and further increases to U.S. interest rates. In company news, shares of gay dating app Grindr skyrocketed about 214 percent in their market debut after the company completed its merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. Gap rose 7.6 percent after the company beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales and profit. Shares of Live Nation Entertainment slumped 7.8 percent after The New York Times reported that the US Justice Department was investigating whether the Ticketmaster parent had abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry. (Reuters)