American stock markets presented mixed results on Friday. In New York, the Dow reached 47,917 points, showing a decline of 0.6 percent compared to the previous trading day. A few minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 index was down 0.1 percent around 6,817 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index was up 0.1 percent at approximately 25,120 points.
Despite the ongoing influence of the Iran conflict on market activity, the primary concern for the US central bank remains persistently high inflation. According to data released on Friday, the inflation rate jumped to 3.3 percent in March, up from 2.4 percent the month before. The current figures do not clearly show whether the increased energy prices stemming from the Iran conflict are raising prices in other sectors. Core inflation, defined as price increases excluding energy and food, stood at 2.6 percent in March, compared to 2.5 percent in February. While this data does not strongly suggest the interest rate cut desired by US President Donald Trump, the central bank factors in data concerning the labor market-which could also feel stronger effects from the war.
Meanwhile, the European common currency strengthened on Friday evening. One Euro exchanged for 1.1729 US dollars, meaning one dollar cost 0.8526 Euros. The price of gold weakened, trading at $4,754 per troy ounce in the evening, marking a 0.2 percent decrease. This equates to a price of 130.31 Euros per gram. Oil prices dropped significantly; a barrel of North Sea Brent crude cost $94.53 as of 10:00 pm German time on Friday, which was 1.5 percent lower, or 139 cents less, than at the previous day’s close.
