Stocks teetered on both sides of the flatline in early trading Friday morning as investors digested a final slate of corporate earnings to close out the week.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.03%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 17 points, or 0.05%. Technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) were down 0.15%.
All three major averages are on pace to close the week lower.
The earnings onslaught slowed slightly on Friday morning, with consumer staple Procter & Gamble (PG) reporting. Shares of Procter & Gamble rose nearly 3% as the company raised its forecast for 2023 organic sales growth to 6%, up from a prior guidance of 4% to 5%.
P&G chairman and CEO Jon Moleller told Yahoo Finance his company isn’t seeing any signs of a recession in their business.
“We’re seeing if anything, more careful usage of the product that they have bought,” Moeller said. “So they might use a half a sheet of Bounty paper towel as opposed to a whole sheet.”
Oil futures popped slightly on Friday with West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) and Brent (BZ=F) rising more than 1% in early trading. Brent Crude prices sat just under $82 a barrel.
Stocks closed lower on Thursday amid weaker-than-expected quarterly profit at Tesla (TSLA), mixed earnings data from various sectors, and softer-than-expected housing and jobs data.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester told Yahoo Finance on Thursday that interest rates need to raise above 5% given stubborn inflation. The comments came two days before Federal Reserve participants enter their blackout period prior to the next FOMC meeting on May 2.
Markets are currently pricing in a 84% chance of 25-basis-point rate hike at the next FOMC meeting, according to data from the CME group.
“While the odds of a hike have risen since Friday last week, we think the softness of data this week argue more for a dovish hike,” Tom Lee Head of Research wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures trends in manufacturing and service sectors, is expected at 9:45 a.m. ET on Friday.
Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
