US Stock Market Sees Mixed Results Amid Inflation Worries

The US stock market showed mixed results in the week ending August 14th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 340 points, or 0.63%, to close at 53,732.41. In contrast, both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices rose slightly, with the Nasdaq gaining 48.72 points, or 0.18%, to end at 26,729.16, and the S&P 500 increasing by 34.02 points, or 0.44%, to close at 7,785.76.

Several key events influenced market sentiment, including inflation data and US-Iran developments. The University of Michigan's preliminary August sentiment index fell to 51, below forecasts of 55, while retail sales dropped in July by the most in over a year. Weak jobs figures and soft inflation suggested that the economy is showing signs of cooling.

Certain sectors, such as hyperscalers, including Meta (-0.9%), Oracle (-3.7%) and Amazon (-0.9%), posted losses. However, chipmakers like AMD (+6.5%) and memory producers extended their strong gains from earlier in the week.