New York - Wall Street stocks moved mostly higher this week despite mixed earnings from big retailers and caution about swelling equity valuations.
The Dow and S&P 500 both notched record closes during the week before retreating a bit, while the Nasdaq ended less than three points away from its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 40.54 points (0.22 percent) at 18,232.02 compared with last Friday.
But the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 3.33 (0.16 percent) to 2,126.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 41.07 (0.81 percent) to 5,089.36.
Hugh Johnson of Hugh Johnson Advisors said stocks would probably stall given current valuations and the prospect of higher interest rates.
"For stock markets, 2013 and 2014 had been very good years and now it has hit what I call the wall of valuation, becoming somewhat overvalued," Johnson said.
The week was relatively light on economic indicators, leaving minutes from the Federal Reserve's April policy meeting as one of the most watched calendar items.
The minutes cast further doubt on the prospects of an imminent hike to the near-zero federal funds rate, with "many" policy makers viewing a June rate increase as "unlikely."
In a speech on Friday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen reaffirmed that the Fed was on track to raise interest rates this year. However, she also warned that the US economy continues to show weakness, with significant job market slack not reflected in the 5.4 percent jobless rate.
Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management, said the Fed's plan could weigh on stocks unless the economy picks up.
"We need to see some real momentum, better growth outside of just jobs growth," he said.
"We need to see a pickup in spending, a pickup in investment to justify the Fed engaging in a cycle of Fed rate hikes. Or else the market is going to say this is a mistake."
AFP
